Security by Design or Stay Home: Inside the Cyber Resilience Act

The EU’s Cyber Resilience Act lays out five requirements that turn “secure connected products” into a repeatable process — useful not just for European manufacturers, but for anyone building smart, connected gear.
Nov. 30, 2025

The EU's Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) set new cybersecurity standards for American businesses that are selling — or intend to sell — products with "a digital component" in the EU. Products that do not meet these standards will be banned from the EU market. 

To comply with the CRA, manufacturers must ensure cybersecurity throughout the product life cycle to address security risks posed by products and software.

Steve Durbin, chief executive of the Information Security Forum, explains how the CRA changes how manufacturers think about connected products, from industrial control systems to smart appliances. The CRA mandates security that's baked in, not brushed on — threat modeling in development, strong authentication and encryption, safe defaults, secure coding, and hardware root-of-trust so products can stay defendable throughout their life cycle.

Even if your company doesn't currently do business in the EU, following the CRA will help manufacturers ship stronger products and earn trust in other markets, including those beyond Europe.

To stay on the right side of the CRA, businesses must understand the law's five key requirements. Find out what they are at Smart Industry.

About the Author

Abby White

Abby White

Vice President of Content Studio

Abby White is a content strategist, newsroom-trained writer, and brand storyteller. As Vice President of EndeavorB2B’s Content Studio, she leads client-driven custom content programs across 90+ brands and the content strategy for topic and role-based newsletters serving executive audiences. An award-winning journalist with a marketer’s mindset, Abby brings 25 years of experience leading editorial, communications, marketing, and audience-building efforts across industries.

Abby launched her first magazine, Abby’s Top 40, in 1988 and made everyone in her family read it. While attending the University of Illinois, she paid her rent as a professional notetaker, which might explain why she still gets asked to take notes in meetings. Since then, she has held editorial leadership roles at an alt weekly, a newspaper, a luxury lifestyle magazine, a business journal, a music magazine, and regional women’s magazines, developing a sharp writing edge and a conversational tone that resonates with professional audiences. 

She expanded into marketing while leading communications for an entertainment industry nonprofit and later drove rebranding and audience-building efforts for an NPR music station. At EndeavorB2B, she has been instrumental in driving editorial excellence, developing scalable content strategies across multiple verticals, and building the foundation for EDGE, the company’s portfolio of executive newsletters. 

And if you’re a writer interested in contributing to TechEDGE, she’s the person you need to (politely) bug.

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