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Software Quality: A Pillar of NIS2 Compliance and Resilience

11/12/2024
16 MIN READ  /
In 2024, cyberattacks surged by 16%, with ransomware posing the most immediate threat to critical infrastructure. Another report by Forescout Research – Vedere Labs highlighted that between January 2023 and January 2024, the world’s critical infrastructure had been attacked more than 420 million times, with attacks ranging in magnitude, indicating a 30% increase from 2022.
The NIS2 Directive emphasizes software quality as essential for cybersecurity and operational resilience for critical infrastructure businesses. Achieving compliance requires organizations to harmonize various regulatory frameworks, allocate resources effectively, and secure global supply chains. By embedding robust cybersecurity measures into software development and maintenance, businesses can enhance resilience and ensure business continuity amid evolving cyber threats.

Understanding the NIS2 Directive

The NIS2 Directive is a robust EU cybersecurity framework aimed at strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure. Expanding on the original NIS Directive, NIS2 applies to more sectors, including healthcare, energy, and digital infrastructure, and introduces stricter requirements for risk management, incident reporting, and supply chain security. It mandates accountability at the highest management levels and imposes severe penalties for non-compliance. By fostering harmonization across member states, NIS2 seeks to enhance collective cybersecurity defenses, reduce fragmentation, and ensure uninterrupted services in the face of escalating cyber threats.
Did you know that organizations failing to comply with the NIS2 Directive could face penalties of up to €10 million? With digital threats growing exponentially, ensuring software quality has never been more critical.

Why Software Quality Matters for NIS2 Compliance

Under the NIS2 Directive, software quality is a fundamental pillar for ensuring robust cybersecurity practices and resilience. It places a strong emphasis on secure software development and maintenance. As so, developers are encouraged to adopt secure coding practices, embedding security measures throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Organizations must conduct regular risk assessments, utilize secure development methodologies, and leverage automated static and dynamic code analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities early.
While GenAI can enhance code security by automating thorough checks often overlooked in manual processes, it’s important to recognize that many systems in production today were deployed without rigorous testing for code vulnerabilities. Leveraging GenAI offers an opportunity to address these gaps, but organizations must still validate outputs to ensure compliance with NIS2 (and the EU AI Act for high-risk systems) and maintain resilience.
Another vital aspect of software quality under NIS2 is ensuring supply chain security, mainly as organizations increasingly rely on third-party software. The directive compels organizations to rigorously assess and monitor their software supply chain to address vulnerabilities that could potentially infiltrate systems through external components. To achieve this, organizations must evaluate the security postures of third-party providers, enforce contractual agreements for vulnerability disclosure, and conduct thorough supply chain audits.
Vulnerability disclosure and handling represent another critical dimension of NIS2’s focus on software quality. Organizations are mandated to establish robust processes for the timely detection and remediation of vulnerabilities.
Moreover, collaboration with national Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) is crucial for reporting and resolving high-priority security issues. This also includes the need for responsible intelligence sharing between organizations; a vendor’s vulnerability can also be your company’s vulnerability. Developing collective defense and clear policies for vulnerability management and disclosure fulfills the directive’s transparency requirements, fosters stakeholder trust, and ensures resilience, enhancing the overall security ecosystem.

Key Steps to NIS2 Compliance

Achieving compliance with the NIS2 Directive is not merely a regulatory requirement; it is a call to action to embed resilience and security into the core of software quality processes. This journey requires transforming how businesses approach cybersecurity across their operations.
To align with NIS2, organizations must focus on:
  • Security-by-Design: Integrate security into every stage of the software development lifecycle, from initial design to deployment, ensuring vulnerabilities and privacy concerns are addressed before production.
  • Rigorous Testing: Employ advanced testing methodologies to evaluate, identify, and mitigate security risks in code, enhancing reliability and resilience.
  • Continuous Monitoring: Establish mechanisms for real-time monitoring of software performance to detect and respond to threats before they escalate.
  • Patch Management: Develop efficient processes to address security flaws through timely patches and updates without disrupting business operations.
  • Third-Party Code Vetting: Ensure all third-party libraries and frameworks used in development meet strict security standards, safeguarding against supply chain vulnerabilities.
By addressing these steps with a proactive, adaptive approach, businesses can transform NIS2 compliance from a challenge into a catalyst for stronger, more secure operations.

Industry-Specific Applications of NIS2

However, NIS2 compliance should not be examined in isolation. In fact, the implementation of the NIS2 Directive may vary significantly across industries, each with unique operational practices and overlapping regulatory frameworks. Addressing overlapping requirements can help simplify compliance with a complex set of regulations.

Financial Sector: NIS2 and DORA

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) functions as a lex specialis regulation in the financial sector, taking precedence over the NIS2 Directive. While DORA addresses broader operational resilience, its alignment with NIS2 highlights the critical role of software quality in safeguarding financial systems.
Organizations in this sector must adopt practices such as real-time monitoring for software vulnerabilities and continuous software testing to handle the high-frequency demands of financial operations. By integrating DORA’s detailed requirements for ICT risk management into their NIS2 compliance strategies, financial institutions can ensure a cohesive and effective approach to resilience and cybersecurity.

Manufacturing Sector: ISO/IEC 62443

The manufacturing industry heavily relies on Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and Operational Technology (OT), governed by the ISO/IEC 62443 standards. These systems face unique challenges due to their operational constraints and critical roles in production.
NIS2 reinforces the importance of secure software in these environments by advocating measures such as software patches specifically designed to address OT vulnerabilities and rigorous testing to prevent disruptions in production lines. Aligning NIS2 requirements with ISO/IEC 62443 ensures compliance while safeguarding the uninterrupted operation of critical manufacturing infrastructure, which is essential for global supply chains and economic stability.

Maritime Sector: IMO Guidelines

In the maritime sector, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) guidelines on cybersecurity work in tandem with NIS2 to address industry-specific challenges. Software systems onboard ships and port facilities must adhere to stringent standards to protect against cyberattacks targeting navigation systems, cargo management platforms, and other critical components. Additionally, resilience in maritime software supply chains is paramount, as vulnerabilities can have far-reaching consequences.
Bridging the requirements of NIS2 with IMO guidelines allows organizations to effectively mitigate cybersecurity risks while addressing the maritime industry’s unique operational and logistical challenges.

Building a Security-First Culture

Beyond technical requirements, NIS2 emphasizes fostering a cybersecurity culture within organizations. Software teams’ empowerment plays a pivotal role in driving this transformation and embedding security into organizational practices. Regular education and training programs equip developers with the skills to address evolving cybersecurity threats effectively. Additionally, fostering cross-functional collaboration between development, security, and operations teams (DevSecOps) ensures that security considerations are integrated seamlessly throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
Furthermore, effectively handling security issues demonstrates an organization’s dedication to compliance and resilience. Establishing a centralized bug bounty program encourages the proactive reporting of vulnerabilities, while automated tools enable real-time detection and mitigation of security risks. These practices improve response times and build a robust framework for managing and resolving vulnerabilities.
Last, strong leadership is critical for cultivating a security-first culture within organizations. Management must lead by example, prioritizing cybersecurity in decision-making and resource allocation. Under NIS2, board members are held accountable for non-compliance, emphasizing the need for leadership to set the tone and ensure cybersecurity is a top organizational priority.

Software Quality and Security: a “Must Match”

The NIS2 Directive redefines how organizations perceive and prioritize software quality and security. By embedding these principles into development, maintenance, and supply chain management, industries can achieve compliance while strengthening resilience against cyber threats. However, successful implementation requires addressing industry-specific challenges and fostering a culture of cybersecurity across all levels of the organization.
NIS2 has now been transposed into Greek legislation and is a call to action for organizations to build robust, secure, and resilient digital ecosystems. Software quality will remain a critical pillar of compliance, resilience, and trust as businesses navigate this evolving landscape. code4thought provides robust software quality and risk services that can help you highlight deficiencies in your software development and maintenance processes and address them before they turn into threats.