Today, CISA—along with U.S. and international partners—released joint guidance Secure by Demand: Priority Considerations for Operational Technology Owners and Operators when Selecting Digital Products. As part of CISA’s Secure by Demand series, this guidance focuses on helping customers identify manufacturers dedicated to continuous improvement and achieving a better cost balance, as well as how Operational Technology (OT) owners and operators should integrate secure by design elements into their procurement process.

Critical infrastructure and industrial control systems are prime targets for cyberattacks. The authoring agencies warn that threat actors, when compromising OT components, target specific OT products rather than specific organizations. Many OT products are not designed and developed with Secure by Design principles and often have easily exploited weaknesses. When procuring products, OT owners and operators should select products from manufacturers who prioritize security elements identified in this guidance.

For more information on questions to consider during procurement discussions, see CISA’s Secure by Demand Guide: How Software Customers Can Drive a Secure Technology Ecosystem. To learn more about secure by design principles and practices, visit Secure by Design.

Today, CISA released the Cybersecurity Performance Goals Adoption Report to highlight how adoption of Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs) benefits our nation’s critical infrastructure sectors. Originally released in October 2022, CISA’s CPGs are voluntary practices that critical infrastructure owners can take to protect themselves against cyber threats. 

This report is based on analysis of 7,791 critical infrastructure organizations enrolled in CISA’s Vulnerability Scanning service from Aug. 1, 2022, through Aug. 31, 2024. Data reveals that four critical infrastructure sectors are most impacted by CPG adoption: Healthcare and Public Health, Water and Wastewater Systems, Communications, and Government Services and Facilities. These four sectors have strong partnerships with CISA.

As CISA strengthens partnerships across all 16 critical infrastructure sectors, the agency hopes that CPG adoption will continue to expand. CISA urges critical infrastructure to learn more by visiting Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals.