Any company wishing to supply Siemens must comply with binding cybersecurity requirements, which were introduced earlier this month.
From now on, a binding clause, which will apply to suppliers of security-critical components such as software, processors and electronic components for certain types of control units, will be introduced in all new contracts. Existing suppliers who do not yet comply with the requirements are to implement them gradually. According to Siemens, the goal is to protect the digital supply chain against hacker attacks. In this regard, Siemens is following the course laid down by the Charter of Trust for cybersecurity.
The requirements stipulate that suppliers must integrate special standards, processes and methods into their products and services. The aim is to prevent vulnerabilities and malicious codes at suppliers, which can then migrate into Siemens products as well.
In future, suppliers themselves must perform security reviews, conduct tests and take corrective action on a regular basis. And Siemens is making these requirements mandatory for its own activities as well.
“This step will enable us to reduce the risk of security incidents along the entire value chain in a holistic manner and offer our customers greater cybersecurity,” said Roland Busch, member of Siemens’ managing board and the company’s chief operating officer and chief technology officer. “If all our partner companies put their global weight behind these measures and implement them together with their suppliers, we can generate tremendous impact and make the digital world more secure.”
In the Autumn of 2018, Siemens further strengthened its internal capacities for repelling hacker attacks and restructured its cyberorganisation. Operating as a worldwide network, the new unit combines what were once separate areas. As a result, Siemens is now the first major company to take a holistic approach to the topic of cybersecurity.
Not only does the new Siemens organisation investigate, analyse and repel hacker attacks, it also develops new cybersecurity services and teams up with the company’s business units to launch these services on the market. The goal is to react to attacks with even greater speed and flexibility.
In every region and at every division, the company has also strengthened its network of cybersecurity managers, who now report to Natalia Oropeza, Siemens’ chief cybersecurity officer.
Siemens has been active in the field of cybersecurity for about 30 years. Its first cybersecurity team was established back in 1986. The company currently has around 1,275 employees worldwide working exclusively on cybersecurity-related matters.
