Countering the looming threat to Japan's manufacturing industry! Macnica and GMO Cyber Security by Ierae enter into partnership to support efforts in the product security field

Macnica (Headquarters: Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Kazumasa Hara; hereinafter Macnica) and GMO Cyber Security by Ierae, Inc. (Board Director: Makoto Makita; hereinafter "GMO Cyber Security by Ierae") have entered into a partnership to provide consulting support and service solutions in the field of product security on August​ ​25, 2025. This will help small and medium-sized enterprises, which play a central role in the manufacturing supply chain, strengthen their security response capabilities as required to comply with the European Cyber Resilience Act (hereinafter "CRA").

(From left) GMO Cyber Security by Ierae Co., Ltd. Board Director CGO Hikohiro Hayashi,
Norikazu Miyagi, General Manager, DX Consulting Division, Macnica

■ Stricter European regulations restrict business?! Product security's 2027 problem
As IoT technology advances, everything from home appliances to automobiles is now connected to the Internet, increasing the risk of cyber threats targeting IoT devices. Unauthorized access could result in serious damage, such as the leakage of confidential information, unauthorized operation, and privacy violations, making it important for companies to strengthen the security of their products.
In particular, the CRA, which is scheduled to become fully mandatory in Europe in 2027, imposes obligations on a wide range of products distributed in Europe, including security considerations from the development stage, vulnerability management after shipment, and reporting in the event of a security incident, and there are very strict penalties in place for violations, such as paying the greater of up to 10 million euros or 2.5% of global sales. This applies not only to companies selling products in Europe, but to all companies that make up the supply chain, and Japanese manufacturers are being forced to comply with the CRA and take measures to continue doing business in Europe.
However, the majority of companies that make up Japan's manufacturing supply chain are small and medium-sized enterprises, and due to a lack of security knowledge and human resources, it is expected to be difficult for them to take future measures such as reorganizing their organizational structures and development processes to deal with CRA on their own.If measures cannot be taken, it could have a major impact on the management of small and medium-sized enterprises that support Japan's industry, as well as on Japan's manufacturing industry.

■ A security support service realized through a collaboration between two companies with deep knowledge of both the manufacturing industry and security
In order to strengthen product security, including complying with CRA and other product security regulations, the two companies will jointly develop the following services, leveraging Macnica 's broad manufacturing customer base as Japan's top semiconductor trading company, its track record in product implementation and operational support consulting cultivated through its cybersecurity business, and GMO CyberSecurity by Ierae's advanced expertise in product security.

1) Consulting
Consulting for building a secure development process

In order to comply with product security regulations such as CRA, it is essential to build a secure development process that incorporates security practices into existing development processes.

Macnica has been a semiconductor and security trading company for many years, and has a wealth of consulting experience in areas such as product implementation and operational support, as well as extensive knowledge of cybersecurity, through its dealings with over 26,000 customers, including manufacturers.

In addition to white hat hackers with advanced technical skills, GMO Cyber Security by Ierae has the advantage of having extensive knowledge of security practices, thanks to its personnel with experience in strengthening security throughout the manufacturing product lifecycle, from upstream to downstream.
By bringing together these unique strengths, we provide comprehensive support to a wide range of manufacturing customers who form supply chains, covering all organizational, regulatory, and technical aspects, from establishing an appropriate secure development process implementation system for each company, to formulating rules for secure development processes to be referenced internally, and supporting the creation of practical implementation and operational environments that incorporate security knowledge.

2) Service solution implementation
Consideration and development of new service solutions that support security measures throughout the product lifecycle

As a trading company, Macnica has accumulated concrete examples of operational challenges faced by customers through proposing and implementing a variety of security solutions. In the field of product security, there has been a noticeable trend, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises, of lagging behind in establishing systems for vulnerability management and incident response.
Therefore, Macnica and GMO Cyber Security by Ierae will package and provide automated and efficient service solutions that leverage the practical experience and operational support experience that both companies have in vulnerability management and incident response.

Macnica and GMO Cyber Security by Ierae will support the development of Japan's manufacturing industry by helping to strengthen product security.

Hikohiro Hayashi, Board Director and CGO of GMO Cyber Security by Ierae, Inc., said:
"We at GMO Cyber Security by Ierae are delighted to have entered into this partnership with Macnica, an industry leader in the product security field, and we believe this is an important step towards contributing to the safety of both our customers and society as a whole.
In today's world, where cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and ingenious than ever before and all kinds of products are connected through increasingly complex supply chains, security measures based on the concept of "security by design" that cover the entire product lifecycle, from upstream development to downstream post-shipment, are an urgent and most important management issue for ensuring a company's business continuity and social trust.
We strongly believe that by organically combining Macnica 's outstanding technical knowledge, extensive sales network, and deep market insight with GMO Cyber Security by Ierae's vulnerability assessment technology, developed by world-class white hat hackers, in-depth threat analysis capabilities from an attacker's perspective, and practical consulting capabilities, we will be able to provide our customers with unparalleled, truly effective, and comprehensive product security solutions.
Through this partnership, we at GMO Cyber Security by Ierae will contribute to the safety and security of the entire digital society, both in Japan and overseas, and to its sustainable development, by accelerating our customers' innovations in a more secure manner. We hope you will look forward to the future that this powerful collaboration will create."

Norikazu Miyagi, General Manager of the DX Consulting Division Macnica, said:
"We at Macnica are extremely honored to announce this collaboration with GMO Cyber Security by Ierae.
What we are offering through this collaboration is the value of essential security. At Macnica, we have worked with many manufacturers, primarily in the design and development departments, and our experience providing on-site support has made us keenly aware that the field of product security is not simply a technical area, but an activity that will have a major impact on the product development process that has been built over many years.
Macnica 's world-class security technology expertise and security operation know-how, based on its semiconductors and product security solutions, combined with GMO Cyber Security by Ierae's ability to identify "real breakthrough points" from an attacker's perspective, dramatically improves the accuracy of security measures. Our goal is to achieve true "manufacturing security" by providing comprehensive support from process development and operation to technology implementation. We encourage both manufacturers looking to implement countermeasures and those already in the process to consult with us. We believe that we can help you identify previously unseen issues and identify new countermeasure directions.
We sincerely hope that this collaboration will be the next step for Japanese manufacturing, and that it will help support product reliability and, ultimately, international competitiveness."

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Macnica DX Consulting Department
E-mail: add-venture@macnica.co.jp

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