Cyber-Physical Ecosystem Security Risk Spectra
Understanding and managing multidimensional risks in connected ecosystems
Cyber-Physical security risk classification as the only and essential starting point to mitigating current and future cyber threats,,
In the age of hyperconnectivity, risk in cyber-physical (including connector, Edge and IoT) ecosystems is not static; it is dynamic, layered, and constantly evolving. IoT systems operate across physical and digital domains, where devices, data, and humans intersect. This interconnectedness brings immense opportunity but also exposes organisations to cascading risks: technical, operational, regulatory, and societal.
Traditional risk frameworks are often too narrow to capture the full spectrum of vulnerabilities in these complex environments. That’s why we apply a multidimensional risk analysis, based on the Dynamic Cyber-Physical Ecosystem Security Risk Spectra. This methodology recognises that cyber-physical risk is shaped by multiple – read, sixteen (16) – interdependent layers, including for instance:
- Device & Connectivity – hardware, sensors, and network integrity.
- Functionality & Application – operational logic, interfaces, and software.
- Data & Data Flows – information movement, processing, and storage.
- Stakeholders – suppliers, customers, users and other actors – malicious or not.
- Use Context – Intended use, Expected use, respectively Actial use.
- Sector – Critical infrastructures, Public Sector, Private Sector, Consumer markets and the like.
- Lifecycle & Implementation – deployment, updates, maintenance, and decommissioning.
- Function Creep – products, systems and services can be changed.
- AI Capabilities & Digital Twins – autonomous decision-making, modelling, and predictive behaviour.
Each layer is assessed across multiple risk levels, enabling a granular view of both technical and organisational exposure. The result is a comprehensive, IoT/Edge-device-centric risk landscape that helps identify not only immediate threats but also long-term systemic weaknesses such as function creep or ecosystem dependency.
01. Why & Where To Start: Mapping Risk (PDF)
02. How to Use Connector/Device-Centric Security Risk Spectra (PDF)
03. Mapping Risk (Work Document, in spreadsheet format)
Why this matters
Our Risk Spectra Methodology supports compliance readiness while strengthening trust, accountability, and resilience. It also helps with starting, building and sustaining the appropriate levels of security and trust for applicable law such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), NIS2 Directive, CER Directive, and AI Act: in those, organisations are required to demonstrate contextual, structured, transparent approaches to digital risk, dynamic assurance, continuous monitoring and accountability – also regarding one’s supply chain ecosystem.
By continuously classifying, measuring, and adapting security measures through this spectra-based approach, organisations can evolve from reactive protection to proactive assurance: embedding resilience, agility, and foresight into the very fabric of their connected operations.
The outcome: a future-proof, secure, and compliant IoT ecosystem where innovation can flourish without compromising integrity or trust.