Building a Compliance-Ready DevSecOps Pipeline for IoT & Embedded Systems

The DevOps revolution transformed the pace of product development but also created new risks as security struggled to keep up. Now, with regulatory frameworks like the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), EU RED, and the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark entering force, security can no longer be a bolt-on. It must be built in through a compliance-ready DevSecOps pipeline tailored for IoT and embedded systems.

As SC Media’s recent article explains, the future of secure development lies in automation, binary visibility, and scalable tools that drive secure-by-default practices without slowing innovation.

The New Compliance Mandates Facing IoT Manufacturers

IoT manufacturers are now being held to a higher standard by regulators worldwide. Three mandates stand out:

• EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA): Requires manufacturers to implement vulnerability management processes, publish SBOMs, support coordinated vulnerability disclosure, and deliver secure software updates throughout the product lifecycle.
  
  
• EU RED (Article 3.3 d/e/f): Enforces safeguards to protect personal data, ensure device network security, and prevent misuse by malicious actors.
  
  
• U.S. Cyber Trust Mark: Based on NIST criteria, this voluntary program will shape procurement and consumer trust expectations across sectors.
  
  

These mandates require more than one-time audits—they demand continuous security assurance, complete component transparency, and robust reporting capabilities throughout the SDLC.

Integrating Security Seamlessly into DevSecOps

To meet compliance and market expectations, security must be woven into every phase of development, not layered on post-facto.

Here’s how to make that seamless:

• Binary + Source Code SCA: Tools must analyze both first-party source and opaque third-party binaries. Finite State’s platform goes beyond metadata, reverse-engineering firmware and binaries to expose vulnerabilities that other tools miss.
  
  
• SBOM Generation and Lifecycle Management: Automatically generate and manage SBOMs, enrich with real-time threat intelligence, and distribute them in formats like SPDX and CycloneDX, ensuring traceability and auditability.
  
  
• Security Testing in CI/CD: Integrate static analysis, binary SAST, and policy enforcement directly into build systems. Break builds on policy violations and create auto-generated remediation tickets to accelerate response.
  
  
• Developer-Centric Remediation: Contextual risk scoring and tailored fix guidance help developers address the most critical vulnerabilities without workflow disruption.

Choosing Tools That Scale Across Complex Ecosystems

Connected and embedded devices present unique challenges—limited computing environments, diverse architectures, and deeply integrated software stacks.

Most AppSec tools fall short because they:

• Lack support for binary formats and custom firmware
  
• Don’t provide deep visibility into embedded systems
  
• Can’t handle disconnected or siloed DevOps processes
  
  

Finite State solves these problems with:

• Automated scanning across 130+ binary formats and 30+ architectures
  
• Unified visibility across software layers—source, binary, firmware, APIs, and networks
  
• Scalable integrations into 150+ CI/CD and DevOps tools
  
• Compliance readiness services aligned with CRA, RED, and NIST frameworks
  

This means security and compliance can finally keep pace with product innovation, without slowing release cycles.

Conclusion: Secure-by-Design Is Now a Market Imperative

Security is no longer a luxury or a checkbox—it’s the foundation of product viability, customer trust, and global market access. As regulatory pressure increases and supply chain risks grow, building a compliance-ready DevSecOps pipeline will be an essential, competitive necessity.

See how Finite State powers secure DevSecOps for IoT. Schedule a demo.