Many regulatory updates now mandate dual evaluations for functional safety and digital security — such as IEC 61508, ISO 13849 and ISA/IEC 62443 — highlighting the necessity of expertise in both areas. This alignment strengthens system resilience against new threats and enables thorough compliance.
The process industry serves as a good example of design considerations that address both safety and cybersecurity. Consider a company that creates high-purity specialty materials in high-temperature environments. Workers operate electrified furnaces that run at several thousand degrees, as well as critical equipment such as digitally controlled lasers, compressed air-driven devices and thousands of distributed valves, pumps and motors. As companies add tools and devices to transform operations and improve functional safety, they face the increased risk of cyber threats targeting the very tools their workers use.
Using integrated processes that align with prevailing industry standards is essential to minimize risks and confirm that products adhere to both safety and cybersecurity regulations. Using frameworks like the Purdue Model for industrial automation (which helps segregate system networks and manage data flow securely) is recommended for structuring security architecture effectively.
Early integration of safety and security
To help ensure manufacturers adopt comprehensive strategies that involve early integration of safety and security considerations, UL Solutions safety science experts provide training, testing, inspection and certification. These experts act as a pivotal resource for manufacturers across various industries who wish to conform to global safety regulations while strengthening industrial systems against cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Get more information from UL Solutions related to integrating functional safety and cybersecurity.
Nicholas Alexiades, is global operations and business leader for autonomy, functional safety and cybersecurity at UL Solutions.
