Technical cybersecurity expertise combined with proven conformity assessment competence — supporting manufacturers across the full CRA lifecycle.
What is the CRA
The CRA establishes stringent cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements. Its primary goal is to safeguard critical systems from evolving cyber threats by mandating secure development practices, vulnerability management, and comprehensive documentation. The CRA affects a wide range of products, including those used in industrial automation, smart infrastructure, and IoT solutions.
CRA compliance is mandatory for anyone selling products in the EU—regardless of where they are designed or manufactured. If your organization wants to maintain EU market access and ensure product security, understanding the scope of the CRA is essential.
Urgency and Timeline
Compliance with the CRA is not optional and the timeline is ambitious:
Delaying compliance increases the risk of operational disruptions, restricted market access, regulatory penalties, and significant reputational damage, making early engagement and alignment essential.
Why exida
exida is a trusted global leader in functional safety, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance for industrial automation and connected products. Our team combines technical depth, regulatory insight, and hands-on experience, making us the trusted partner for organizations seeking to achieve CRA compliance efficiently and confidently.
Cybersecurity Certification
We are the longest running ICS cybersecurity certification organization (since 2011) and have performed many IEC 62443 cybersecurity certifications to date.
Notified Body
We are a Notified Body (NoBo), chartered with assessing whether products meet strict European safety and cybersecurity requirements before entering the market.
Expertise
As leading co-authors of global IEC standards and industry-standard technical books, our team combines regulatory influence with deep, hands-on project experience in operational plants to deliver practical, real-world security strategies that protect our industrial infrastructure.
This unique "assessor's perspective" helps customers prepare efficiently, reducing the risk of delays or unsuccessful conformity assessments. We know what it takes for you to pass conformity assessment – whether you are preparing for self- or third-party assessment.
Why work with exida
Understand exactly what applies to your product, what is required, and how to proceed — without ambiguity or unnecessary effort.
Avoid costly redesigns and delays by addressing cybersecurity and CRA requirements early and systematically.
Streamline your journey to compliance with a structured, assessment-oriented approach aligned with CRA and assessor expectations.
Be fully prepared to demonstrate compliance with clear, structured, and defensible documentation – whether you are self-certifying or using a third party.
As a NoBo and the longest running certification body for IEC 62443, we have the unique experience and insights to minimize the risk to your business from CRA compliance.
How exida helps
Our approach is aligned with established certification practices and prepares organizations for interaction with future Notified Bodies under the CRA. We build on established standards such as the IEC 62443 series, which already align closely with CRA expectations.
exida helps organizations translate CRA requirements into actionable steps through IEC 62443 alignment, cybersecurity vulnerability assessments, and risk-based decision-making.
We analyze your product scope, determine CRA applicability, classification (Critical, Important Type 1 / Type 2, Default), and define the required conformity assessment pathway.
We support the integration of cybersecurity into your product design, including threat modeling, secure update mechanisms, lifecycle controls, and secure by default configurations.
We assess your current development processes, product security, and documentation against CRA requirements and industry standards to identify concrete gaps.
We prepare your organization for independent assessment through documentation reviews, pre-assessments, and structured evidence development.
Designed to align with future Notified Body expectations.
Even for "default category" products, a formal risk assessment is required to establish essential cybersecurity baselines. Done right, it determines which CRA requirements actually apply to your product—often significantly reducing your compliance workload. However, these assessments must be backed by rigorous, security-backed arguments capable of withstanding strict surveillance authority scrutiny.
We establish robust procedures for managing vulnerabilities, facilitating responsible disclosure, and preparing organizations for ongoing reporting obligations.
We’ll help you leverage harmonized standards (e.g., EN IEC 62443, EN 40000-1) to address your product’s unique risks creating a smoother path to conformance.
CRA Challenges
Many organizations lack a shared understanding of CRA requirements across engineering, product management, and compliance teams leading to inconsistent implementation and delays.
Public and in-house formats available.
Many manufacturers struggle to determine whether their product falls under the CRA and which obligations apply.
Quick expert assessment of your product scope and obligations.
Cybersecurity is often added late, leading to costly redesigns and compliance risks.
Identify gaps against CRA security-by-design expectations
Even technically secure products fail CRA compliance due to missing, incomplete, or non-structured technical documentation required for conformity assessment.
Ensure your technical documentation meets CRA requirements in preparation for market surveillance authorities
Organizations underestimate the level of structured evidence, traceability, and documentation required to successfully pass CRA conformity assessment by a Notified Body.
Prepare for independent conformity assessment with confidence
It may be unclear what conformity path is optimum: Module A (self assessment, Module B+C (EU-type examination), or Module H (full quality control system).
Determine best path based on category, harmonized standard availability, introduction of new or modified products
What does conformance look like for a system, products with a common design, or third party products subject to CRA?
Set optimum conformance approach for complex products and systems.
Organizations may not have experience conducting risk assessments based on purpose, foreseeable usage, or impact.
Conduct risk assessment to establish realistic and necessary set of essential cybersecurity requirements.
Learn More
Deepen your knowledge about the CRA and keep up-to-date on the latest interpretations
What's your next step toward CRA compliance?
Start your CRA journey today!
