Secura Becomes Recognized Technical Service for UNECE R155 and R156 Regulations

The UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) has been working in the past years on drafting two new international regulations, focused on Cybersecurity (UNECE R155) and Software Updates (UNECE R156) for road vehicles. The regulations have been adopted formally in June 2020, and are scheduled to enter into force from January 2021.

Under the new regulations, vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) will need to satisfy the Cyber Security Management System (CSMS) and Software Updates Management System (SUMS) requirements in order to be allowed to apply for type approval of specific vehicle types. The regulations will be applicable for all the UNECE countries members of the 1958 Agreement, which ensures wide global coverage.

The R155 regulation already has a mandatory deadline for implementation for new vehicle types in the EU countries, which is July 2022. This means that all the vehicle manufacturers, which are interested in placing new vehicle types on the EU market, are required to demonstrate first compliance with the R155 regulation. This requires both a demonstration of the used processes (the Cybersecurity Management System), as well as a demonstration of the vehicle type’s technical design and architecture. Once successfully certified, the vehicle types will be accepted for market access in all the countries member of the EU, and all the countries members of the UNECE 1958 agreement (including Japan, South Korea, Russia, Australia, UK, etc.).

Secura has been involved with the R155 and R156 regulations from an early stage in their development, since 2018. Besides actively participating in the UNECE task force meetings for finalizing these regulations, Secura has also participated in the official UNECE pilot phase for R155 and R156, together with several international Approval Authorities and OEMs. When a few national Approval Authorities have opened their program for Technical Services designation, Secura has been one of the first candidates to apply for this recognition.

Together with LCIE Bureau Veritas, Secura is currently a recognized Technical Service for R155 and R156 evaluations under the E49 Approval Authority.

This recognition comes based on the existing mature evaluation methodology, as well as the practical experience with R155 and R156 applied already with a few OEMs. The other countries' members of the 1958 Agreement will directly recognize successful certificates issued in line with this scheme. Besides E49 designation, Secura is currently in the process of designation with other National Approval Authorities.

The E49 UNECE designation is another important milestone that Secura achieves in the direction of security compliance and certification, on top of other international product-related schemes such as Common Criteria, IEC 62443, or ANSI UL 2900. Besides formal evaluations and audits in line with R155 and R156, Secura will be able to support interested OEMs with related services such as automotive testing, workshops, or regulatory consultancy.

We are happy to talk further with interested OEMs and explore ways in which we can collaborate. As the deadline for new vehicle types certification in the EU is coming closer, Secura is your trusted partner in understanding these regulations and achieving compliance in a smooth way.