Insights for IoT/OT Device Operators & Manufacturers

In April 2025, the UK government released its Cyber Security & Resilience Bill policy statement—marking a major overhaul of the UK’s cyber regulations. This introduces sweeping changes that will resonate deeply with IoT/OT device operators and manufacturers alike.

Here’s an overview of what you can expect:

• Expanded Regulation & Coverage

The Bill expands the scope of UK NIS regulations well beyond their current reach meaning that even if you are not currently regulated, you need to prepare for compliance readiness today:

• • Managed Service Providers (MSPs), digital services, and data centres (based on capacity) will now fall under regulatory oversight—an estimated 900–1,100 MSPs and over 200 data centres

  • More broadly, the government reserves the right to bring additional sectors—like space, manufacturing, and utilities—into scope without new legislation

• Strengthened Incident Reporting

Expect a two‑stage incident notification structure:

• • Initial notification within 24 hours of identifying a significant incident.

  • Full incident report within 72 hours, detailing impact, root causes, and mitigation steps

  • Obligations include notifying regulators (ICO/NCSC) and potentially impacted customers.

This means that device operators must accelerate detection, classification, triage, and response workflows. Manufacturers may need to support faster traceability and firmware integrity reporting.

• Enhanced Supply Chain Accountability

  • Regulators can designate critical suppliers, holding them to similar standards as Operators of Essential Services

  • This expands security responsibility: every vendor in the IT/OT supply chain—including device manufacturers—must stay compliant.

This means that operators should audit vendor and firmware libraries. Manufacturers must maintain documentation, traceability, and rapid patching across ecosystems.

• Elevated Technical Security Standards

• • The bill formally adopts the NCSC’s Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF), bringing UK regulations closer to EU NIS2 standards

  • Clearly defined expectations will cover areas like authentication, encrypted communication, and device lifecycle management .

Operators need to implement strong device identity, secure boot, and Zero Trust access principles. Manufacturers must embed these capabilities by design.

• Empowered Regulators & Dynamic Governance

  • Regulators, specifically the ICO, will gain increased auditing and enforcement authority—including imposing fees

  • The government may issue directives or codes of practice without needing Parliament, enabling more agile compliance

  • The Secretary of State may even instruct firms directly during cyber crises

As a result organizations must be prepared for regulatory review at any time. Manufacturers need to respond swiftly to emergency mitigation requests or patches.

In summary, device operators and manufacturers should expect:

• Legal sweep: Wider regulation means more devices and vendors fall under new obligations.

• Faster reporting: 24/72‑hour notification windows require rapid detection and triage.

• Supply chain scrutiny: Manufacturers must deliver secure, traceable firmware and components.

• Zero Trust now: Identity-based access, attestation, and auditability are no longer optional—they’re foundational.

How Device Authority Can Help You Prepare

1. Device Identity & Credentialing at Scale
Automate secure provisioning, rotation, and attestation of device identities—essential for enforcing CAF controls, incident attribution, and supply chain trust.

2. Incident Detection & Root‑Cause Traceability
Leverage KeyScaler to log every identity lifecycle event and firmware change, enabling rapid 24/72‑hour incident reporting compliance.

3. Supply Chain Traceability & Trust
Use attested device identities and tamper-proof logs to transparently prove firmware provenance and supplier accountability.

4. Zero Trust Control Plane
Implement identity-based, policy-driven access decisions—aligning with CAF and emerging regulatory expectations for secure architecture.

5. Agile Response Support
Device Authority enables real‑time revocation, quarantine, or patching of compromised devices, critical under directives or security incidents.

Device Authority’s KeyScaler platform enables operators and manufacturers to meet these obligations head-on: secure, automated, transparent—ready for the Cyber Security & Resilience Bill.