Cyber · Hazloc Labs

EU Cyber Resilience Act: Product Readiness for Hardware Teams

The EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) establishes horizontal cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements. If your hardware ships software, firmware, or remote connectivity, CRA planning belongs on the same roadmap as CE safety, EMC, and radio work.

What product teams should prepare early

• Product categorization against CRA classes (default vs important/critical as applicable)
• Secure development practices and update strategy
• Vulnerability intake, disclosure, and remediation SLAs
• SBOM / component inventory habits for third-party software
• Support-period commitments that marketing can actually fund

Relation to RED cybersecurity and existing CE files

Radio Equipment Directive delegated cybersecurity requirements already push authentication, updatability, and privacy-related essentials for certain internet-connected radio devices. CRA is broader and more horizontal. Expect shared engineering controls — unique DoC/legislation references. See also our RED cybersecurity article.

Evidence mindset

Control area	Example artifacts
Access control	Default-password policy, auth design notes
Integrity	Secure boot / signed update design
Vulnerability handling	PSIRT process, contact channel, timelines
Transparency	User security documentation, support end dates

FAQ

Does CRA replace CE marking?

No. It adds cybersecurity conformity obligations for in-scope products with digital elements, integrated into the broader EU product framework. Plan combined compliance — do not run a separate silo that never talks to the CE file owners.

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