Why SBOMs Matter for Industrial and Critical Infrastructure Security
If you’ve ever weaned a baby, introducing variety into their diet requires careful attention to more than just familiar ingredients like bread, ham, or cheese. Store-bought and processed foods often contain hidden risks—such as honey, alcohol, or allergens—that are not immediately obvious. Understanding what is safe depends on reviewing ingredient lists when available and seeking clarification when they are not.
Networking devices, like food, can introduce risks from the big wide world into critical infrastructure systems. Modern industrial systems are a blend of hardware, firmware, and software. As a result, evaluating devices requires more than reviewing a physical Bill of Materials (BOM). You also need the Software BOM (SBOM), which is a formal record containing the details, versions, and supply chain relationships of various software components used in building a product. This information is crucial in vulnerability and asset management, enabling organizations to quickly identify software or component dependencies and supply chain risks.
In September 2025, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), together with the National Security Agency (NSA) and multiple international partners, published joint guidance outlining a Shared Vision of SBOMs for Cybersecurity. This guidance emphasizes SBOMs as a key element for gaining visibility into software supply chains, identifying vulnerable components, and enabling proactive risk mitigation.
Comparisons against disclosed vulnerabilities can provide early alerts to potential risks, allowing distribution of patches before a device is ever attacked. When a flaw is identified, an SBOM also allows suppliers to quickly produce patches or provide other remediation options, and consumers to apply mitigations independently of the software supplier, focusing on known software that may be affected. More information can be found at CISA’s SBOM topic page.
Major government cybersecurity initiatives such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) are increasingly emphasizing SBOM practices as part of broader cybersecurity strategies. As a user in critical industries, this can only be good news. By providing transparency into software components, suppliers like BlackBear pledge to faster and more reliable vulnerability management, reducing the window of exposure to threats that could disrupt critical services. With clear and accurate component information, asset owners can better assess risk, prioritize remediation, and maintain operational continuity. This ultimately strengthens resilience across industrial and critical infrastructure environments, where cybersecurity incidents can have real-world safety and economic consequences.
