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🔐OT Cybersecurity Procurement Process & Practices (OTCS PPP) - ultimate guide📘- for procuring / buying industrial solutions / services to protect our industrial operations and or critical infrastructure.

In this extended edition, OT Cybersecurity Procurement for Manufacturing — we’ll cover:

How should asset owners integrate OT Cybersecurity into procurement? In this Q&A session, I answer the 5 most common questions about maturing procurement processes for industrial cybersecurity. 🚀

What You’ll Learn (Questions Covered):
1️⃣ Typical challenges & hurdles in OT Cybersecurity procurement
2️⃣ Foundational changes & prerequisites before adoption
3️⃣ Impact on IT vs OT risk management alignment
4️⃣ How to verify vendors meet cybersecurity requirements
5️⃣ Ensuring consistency in specifications, purchasing decisions & agreements

Why Watch:
If you’re an asset owner, CISO, procurement lead, or OT security practitioner — this session will give you practical answers and real-world lessons for building stronger cybersecurity into procurement processes.

Who this is for:

🚨 For IT-OT Tech, Cybersecurity & Industrial Procurement Professionals! 🚨

Plant managers, automation engineers, OT/ICS security leads, IT, OT, Security, procurement teams, contract owners, and C-suite risk sponsors.

If you find this helpful, we'd love to hear from you!

Please let us know by filling out the poll at the end of this edition and feel free to share your thoughts through comments, likes, or reshares.

♻️if you know someone in your professional circle who will benefit from this guidance and or are interested in learning. Thanks 🌟 

So let’s dig in.

Yours truly.

— Yousuf.

🔥 In case you’ve missed, here are:

📘Part 1 - Foundations & best practices for OT cybersecurity procurement  (already published, click Part 1 in case you missed it).

📘Part 2 - Tailored strategies for the Water & Wastewater Utility sector (by Alana' Murrays 7 step framework. She shared✍️her expert insights, drawing from years of hands-on experience from water / wastewater utility sector).

📘Part 3 - Tailored strategies for the Manufacturing sector (by M. Yousuf Faisal outlining a 3 phase playbook. Sharing✍️his insights from the field while working with Misc. Manufacturing businesses). 

What would you like us to add more? Let us know in the comments below.

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Saudi Arabia (must-have for KSA procurements)

• Operational Technology Cybersecurity Controls (OTCC-1:2022) — NCA’s OT controls for ICS/OT (domains, controls, subcontrols). National Cybersecurity Authority+1

• OT/ICS policy & templates / toolkits — official downloadable policy & toolkit templates (use in RFPs & vendor requirements). NCA+1

• NCA regulatory hub (browse other ECC / OT controls & mapping annexes). National Cybersecurity Authority

Procurement note: require suppliers to map product/system security to NCA OTCC controls (evidence + test reports + SLAs). National Cybersecurity Authority

United Arab Emirates (federal) & Dubai (local)

• UAE National Information Assurance Framework (NIAF) / Information Assurance Regulation — national-level IA regulations and implementation guidance. UAE Government Portal+1

• Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) — Dubai-specific OT/ICS standard & policies for government & semi-gov critical infrastructure. DESC

Procurement note: for UAE/Dubai projects embed NIAF/IA Regulation compliance clauses and reference DESC OT/ICS standards for government contracts. UAE Government Portal+1

Qatar & wider GCC (national CERTs & regional activity)

• Q-CERT / NCSA Qatar guidance (incident management, OT-related prerequisites).

• GCC OT events & regional engagement (GCC Operational Technology Summit — regional practitioner forum). GCCOT Summit

Procurement note: GCC states rely heavily on national CERT/Cyber agencies; require local-jurisdiction incident reporting & regional SCRM (supply-chain) attestations. GCCOT Summit

Oman

• Oman National CERT / Cyber Defense Centre and MTCIT cybersecurity guidelines (basic controls & governance).

Procurement note: include MTCIT “basic security controls” alignment and national CERT reporting timelines.

China — MLPS / Classified Protection (very important for China-facing procurements)

• Classified Protection of Cybersecurity / MLPS 2.0 (网络安全等级保护) — Chinese MLPS / GB baseline rules (applies to network operators & many ICS use-cases).

• Analysis & practical guides (KPMG / Protiviti) explaining MLPS impacts for vendors and OT owners.

Procurement note: for China operations require supplier compliance mapping to MLPS (等级保护) and be explicit about classification level, MLPS evidence, and local data / product security obligations.

New Zealand

• NCSC (GCSB) — Industrial Control Systems guidance and Foundations for OT Cybersecurity (asset inventory guidance for owners/operators). NCSC NZ

Procurement note: require suppliers to support NCSC asset-inventory approaches, ICS hardening and supplier-assisted incident response.

Japan

• METI cybersecurity & OT/ICS guidance (national cybersecurity pages + draft OT Security Guidelines for semiconductor factories).

Procurement note: Japanese procurements (especially semiconductors / factories) expect METI-aligned security requirements — include factory-specific OT controls and SBOM/SDLC evidence.

South Korea

• KISA & national CII protections — KISA guidance and national CII frameworks relevant to OT.

Procurement note: map contract clauses to Korea’s CII rules where applicable and require local incident coordination.

India

• NCIIPC (National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre) guidance / guidelines for protection of CII; CERT-In templates & CCMP.

Procurement note: require mapping to NCIIPC CII controls, CERT-In reporting and CII audit readiness evidence for supplier solutions.

Malaysia

• NACSA (National Cyber Security Agency) + Cyber Security Act 2024 (new regulatory baseline — licensing, obligations).

Procurement note: ensure supplier services that fall under regulated activities meet CSA licensing/controls and include SCRM evidence.

Indonesia

• BSSN (national cyber agency) — national cyber strategy and ongoing work to publish ICS/OT standards/guidance.

Procurement note: for Indonesia projects include BSSN alignment, local SCRM reviews, and keep explicit ML/SL mapping once national ICS standards publish.

Thailand

• ThaiCERT / ETDA — national CERT and ETDA resources (OT advisories, ransomware & incident playbooks).

Procurement note: include ThaiCERT reporting expectations and ETDA guidance for government/critical service procurements.

Short implementation checklist (how to incorporate these regional rules into your RFPs / vendor QA)

1. Regional mapping clause: “Supplier shall identify all jurisdictions where product/services will operate and provide mapping to local OT/ICS rules (e.g., KSA OTCC, China MLPS, UAE NIAF, NCIIPC etc.).” National Cybersecurity Authority+1

2. Local evidence required: require local-jurisdiction certificates/attestations, local incident contact routing, and confirmation of local data handling obligations. UAE Government Portal

3. SCRM + MLPS / Classified protection: ask for supplier SCRM documents and MLPS classification mapping for China-targeted deployments.

4. Right to audit + test: require supplier to permit independent testing and to provide test evidence aligned to the regional regulator expectations. NCA

North America (United States & Canada)

• United States — Federal

  • NIST SP 800-82 Rev.3 — Guide to Operational Technology (OT) Security (full PDF & guidance). Useful for procurement controls, product selection criteria, and ICS risk considerations. NIST Publications

  • CISA — “Foundations for OT Cybersecurity: Asset Inventory Guidance for Owners and Operators” — practical guidance for OT asset inventories (very procurement-relevant: baseline, CMDB / lifecycle). CISA

  • CISA / “Secure by Demand” joint guidance (priority considerations for OT product selection) — joint guidance (CISA + partners) advising buyers on secure-by-design product attributes to require in procurement. See the “Secure by Demand: Priority Considerations for Operational Technology Owners and Operators When Selecting Digital Products.” U.S. Department of War

  • NSA + partners — Guidance for Secure OT Product Selection — high-level product selection checklist and recommended security elements to require in contracts. Very useful to embed into RFPs / vendor questionnaires. NSA+1

• United States — Sector: Energy

  • NERC CIP (Critical Infrastructure Protection) — mandatory reliability & cybersecurity standards for the Bulk Electric System in North America (RFPs for energy OT must map to NERC CIP controls). NERC provides guidelines, reliability & security technical documents. NERC+1

• Canada

  • Canadian Centre for Cyber Security — “Protect your operational technology” / OT guidance & advisories — sector primers, threat advisories and asset-owner guidance (useful for Canadian procurements and supply-chain checks). Canadian Centre for Cyber Security+1

  • Transport Canada — Road Infrastructure OT Cyber Security Primer — example sector-specific primer for intelligent transport systems. Useful template for transport/road RFP wording. Transport Canada

Europe & EU-level

• ENISA (EU Agency for Cybersecurity)

  • NIS2 Technical Implementation Guidance (ENISA) — technical guidance supporting implementation of NIS2 across essential/important entities; includes mappings to technical measures that procurement teams must consider for supply contracts in NIS2-covered sectors. (June 2025 technical guidance.) ENISA+1

• EU Member States / Sectoral

  • Many EU countries are transposing NIS2 into national laws. ENISA’s NIS2 guidance is the best starting point for procurement clauses that must meet NIS2 obligations. ENISA

• United Kingdom (post-BREXIT, UK national guidance)

  • NCSC — Operational Technology (OT) collection & advice (secure OT products, cloud migration for SCADA, procurement checklists and product selection advice). The NCSC also published explicit advice for selecting secure OT products and a collection of OT guidance pages. Strong source for RFP language and supplier security posture checks. NCSC+1

• Ireland / national

  • NCSC Ireland — "Securing Operational Technology" primer (practical local guidance; useful example text for Irish procurement notices). ncsc.gov.ie

Asia-Pacific

• Australia

  • Cyber.gov.au / ACSC — OT guidance (Foundations for OT Cybersecurity: Asset inventory guidance; remote access protocols; AS IEC 62443 adoption) — Australia has adopted AS IEC 62443 as national standards and ACSC provides OT resources and primers for owners/operators. Use these as procurement requirements and baseline controls for Australian critical infrastructure. Cyber Security Australia+2Industrial Cyber+2

• Singapore

  • Cyber Security Agency (CSA) — “Operational Technology Cybersecurity Masterplan (2024)” & OT threat landscape — national OT masterplan and competency frameworks; includes product lifecycle, secure-by-deployment and procurement recommendations. Very useful if you operate in Singaporean supply chains. Cyber Security Agency of Singapore+1

• Regional collaboration

  • CISA & international partners (ASD/ACSC, CCCS, NCSC-UK, etc.) – joint releases on OT topics (edge device security, forensic monitoring specs) — these collaborative docs are practical to reference in multi-jurisdictional procurements. CISA

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Global / Standards bodies & supply-chain guidance

• IEC / ISA (IEC 62443 series) — core technical & lifecycle requirements for OT product development, secure product lifecycle (IEC 62443-4-1 etc.). Use IEC 62443 components: owner program requirements, system requirements, component development, and service provider requirements when drafting contractual requirements and security acceptance tests. isa.org+1

• ISASecure (conformance & certification) — certification scheme aligned with IEC 62443 (useful to require in procurement – e.g., ISASecure certified components). isasecure.org

• ISO/IEC 20243 (O-TTPS / Open Trusted Technology Provider Standard) — supplier product integrity & anti-tampering standard (embed O-TTPS / ISO/IEC 20243 certification requirements or equivalence into RFPs for high-risk procurements).

Other high-value national/regulatory sources to reference when writing RFPs or vendor questionnaires

• USA: CISA asset inventory & Secure by Demand product selection guidance (embed secure-by-design product attributes, e.g., secure boot, logging, patch mechanisms, signed firmware). CISA+1

• USA: NSA / CISA joint press guidance on secure OT product selection – concrete list of product features to require. NSA

• EU/UK: ENISA NIS2 technical guidance and UK NCSC product selection guidance — helpful for NIS2 / UK-jurisdictional contractual clauses. ENISA+1

• Australia: cyber.gov.au OT remote access & AS IEC 62443 adoption notes (for Australia-based procurements). Cyber Security Australia+1

• Canada: Cyber Centre OT advisories & primers (transportation primer example). Canadian Centre for Cyber Security+1

How to use these documents in procurement (practical checklist — quick)

(Each checklist item below can be tied to the cited documents above when you draft an RFP/contract.)

1. Require secure-by-design evidence & supplier attestations (cite NSA/CISA Secure by Demand + IEC 62443 product development lifecycle / 62443-4-1). U.S. Department of War+1

2. Ask for IEC 62443 / ISASecure conformance or mapped evidence (component & system level). isasecure.org+1

3. Include supply-chain integrity clause — O-TTPS / ISO-IEC 20243 or equivalent (require audit reports / attestation). ISO+1

4. Demand secure update/patch processes and SBOMs (or equivalent software inventory) — align with CISA / NIST asset & vulnerability management guidance. CISA+1

5. Define mandatory logging, telemetry, and remote access controls (use CISA / NCSC remote access and product selection guidance). Cyber Security Australia+1

6. Require third-party security testing & acceptance criteria (factory acceptance testing, security acceptance testing) mapped to IEC 62443 test cases or NIST SP 800-82 risk controls. IEC Webstore+1

7. Contractual right to vulnerability disclosure coordination / timely patching — include SLA for security patches, breach notification timelines consistent with NIS2 / national regulator expectations. ENISA

8. Supply-chain risk assessments & audit rights — require supplier SCRM evidence and right to audit per O-TTPS / ISO 20243. ISO

Quick curated link list

• NIST SP 800-82 Rev.3 (Guide to OT Security) — PDF & web. NIST Publications

• ENISA — NIS2 Technical Implementation Guidance (June 2025). ENISA

• NCSC (UK) — Operational Technology collection & advice (secure OT products). NCSC+1

• CISA — Asset Inventory Guidance (Foundations for OT Cybersecurity). CISA

• CISA / “Secure by Demand” — Joint guide for OT owners selecting digital products. U.S. Department of War

• NSA — Guidance for secure OT product selection (press release & guidance). NSA

• ISA / IEC 62443 (ISA landing & IEC taxonomy pages). isa.org+1

• ISASecure — IEC 62443 conformance / certification (ISASecure). isasecure.org

• ISO/IEC 20243 / O-TTPS — Open Trusted Technology Provider Standard pages. ISO+1

• Australia — Cyber.gov.au OT asset inventory & remote access guidance. Cyber Security Australia+1

• Singapore — CSA Operational Technology Cybersecurity Masterplan 2024 (and PDF). Cyber Security Agency of Singapore+1

• Canada — Cyber Centre “Protect your operational technology” guidance. Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

• NERC (electric sector) — NERC CIP documents and security guidelines. NERC+1

Next on the OTCS PPP series - Part 5? 📜 

Call out for expert insights: If you are an expert in Power, Transportation (Airport and Railway) and Oil & Gas sectors📜and want to contribute to this series ✍

DM 📥 / drop a comment 👇 for guest posts and get a shout out! 📢

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