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ISO 21434: Concept Phase

August 22, 2026 · 5 min

Show notes

So far we've flown across the whole cybersecurity lifecycle. Now we drop into one room: the concept phase. This is where, before anyone designs an architecture or writes a line of code, ISO 21434 asks a deceptively simple question - how much cybersecurity does this item actually need? The answer doesn't come from a gut feeling.

Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on ISO 21434.

In this episode:

  • We're inside clause 9, the concept phase of ISO 21434 .
  • First, name the thing that can go wrong.
  • All of this lives in one method, the threat analysis and risk assessment, or TARA, in clause fifteen.
  • Here's the move that trips people up.
  • Impact isn't just safety.
  • Attack feasibility runs the other way.

Reference: Clause references reflect ISO/SAE 21434:2021: concept phase is clause 9 (cybersecurity goals in 9.4); the TARA methods are clause 15, with impact rating (15.5), attack feasibility

More in this series:

Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis.

All shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety | Fault Tree Analysis | FS Assessment | Safety Analysis | IEC 61508 | IEC 62443 | ISO 10218 | ISO 12100 | ISO 13849 | ISO 26262 | ISO/PAS 8800 | ISO 26262-11 | V-Model | UL 4600.

All episodes of ISO-SAE 21434 — Automotive Cybersecurity

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