ISASecure and NSA Develop OT Component Certification Scheme

ISASecure, a subsidiary of the International Society of Automation, is partnering with the National Security Agency to develop a certification scheme for commercial operational technology components used in US National Security Systems, ISA announced in a press release.

The scheme is called High Criticality Component Security Assurance, or HCSA. It is derived from ISASecure's Component Security Assurance program and will use requirements from ISA 62443-4-2, along with six NSA OTAP technical security requirements published in April 2025 for smart controller security.

If the OTAP program office accepts the HCSA scheme, NSA will use it as an approved certification mechanism when evaluating components for the NSS OT Product Compliant List. An HCSA certificate would give manufacturers evidence for possible inclusion of a product on that list before smart controllers are bought and installed in National Security Systems.