TISAX
TISAX Information Security Assessment Consultancy
The information security assessment the automotive industry accepts in place of repeat audits.
- German OEM Requirement
- Prototype Data Protection
- Shared Assessment Results
- Engineering Work Follows
- Practice area
- Automotive
- Industries
- 3
- Delivery
- Onsite, remote, hybrid
Why expert advice is worth having
Organisations rarely fail TISAX because the standard is hard. They fail because the evidence does not match what the auditor asks for.
Scope decides the price
Getting the TISAX scope wrong is expensive in both directions. Too wide and you pay for audit days you never needed. Too narrow and the certificate does not cover what your customer asked about.
Findings get closed, not logged
Most TISAX audits produce findings. What matters is whether they are closed with genuine corrective action or papered over, because the next auditor reads the last report first.
The certification body is independent
We prepare you for TISAX, and an accredited body decides. Because we do not issue the certificate, our only interest is that you actually pass, which is what makes the preparation worth paying for.
Auditors ask for particular evidence
Someone who has sat through hundreds of TISAX audits knows which records get requested first and which answers collapse under a follow up question. That knowledge is only earned in the room.
Need a fast steer on TISAX before your next meeting?
What TISAX is worth to you
Certification is a commercial decision before it is a technical one. This is where the return usually shows up.
German OEM Requirement
European vehicle manufacturers and their tier one suppliers will not share design data with partners holding no valid assessment label.
Prototype Data Protection
Physical and information controls for unreleased vehicle models are assessed specifically, which general security certification does not address.
Shared Assessment Results
Publishing your label on the exchange means several customers accept one assessment instead of each auditing your site separately.
Engineering Work Follows
Design, testing and embedded software contracts move to suppliers who can prove they hold confidential vehicle data safely.
Industries where TISAX applies
Open a sector to see every standard it is usually asked for.
Need a written quotation for TISAX, with scope and fees?
Send us the detailsSee the documentation
Look at how it is structured before you commit
The quickest way to judge a consultant is to look at their paperwork. In a demo we open our TISAX document set and show you the hierarchy: what sits in the manual, what drops into procedures, what becomes a form, and how each one traces back to a clause the auditor will ask about.
TISAX in detail
How the German automotive industry checks information security
TISAX is the mechanism the German automotive industry uses to assess information security and share the result between companies. Assessment is against the VDA Information Security Assessment catalogue, which covers information security, prototype protection and data protection. It is not a certification. Audit providers registered with ENX perform the assessment, results are published as labels on the ENX exchange, and a partner you nominate can view them instead of auditing you all over again.
You will be asked for it by German vehicle manufacturers and their tier ones, and by engineering, design, software, testing, tooling, logistics and marketing suppliers working on their behalf. The trigger is usually receipt of confidential information or physical prototypes. Assessment levels rise with the sensitivity involved, from a self assessment with plausibility check through to an on site audit with unannounced elements at the highest level. Prototype protection pulls physical and site security into scope.
Assessment levels, the VDA catalogue and the shared exchange
Work starts by confirming which assessment objectives and which level your customer actually requires, because scoping too wide is expensive and scoping too narrow means doing the exercise twice. We then complete the VDA catalogue honestly, scoring current maturity against each control and separating what is documented from what is practised. The maturity model is unforgiving of policies without evidence, so a realistic starting score is far more useful than a flattering one.
Remediation follows the gaps: information security management with defined roles, asset and supplier management, identity and access, cryptography, physical security, development security, incident handling and business continuity. Where prototype protection applies we work on site zoning, visitor and photography control, transport and event security. Where data protection is in scope, the related objectives are addressed as well. Before the audit we run a readiness review in the format the audit provider will use.
Labels on the exchange and what they let you bid for
The outcome is a completed and evidenced assessment, a maturity improvement record, and after a successful audit by an ENX registered provider, labels published on the exchange with a defined validity period. You control which partners are allowed to see them. MSCi prepares you and runs the internal readiness audit, but the assessment itself is performed by the registered audit provider. Sharing on the exchange replaces the individual customer audits you would otherwise host.
The commercial effect is access. Without a valid label, projects involving confidential specifications or prototype parts are not released to you, and procurement will not argue the point. With one, onboarding is quick and repeat customer audits largely disappear. Internally, the prototype protection work tends to improve general site security, since visitor control and restricted areas apply to everything on the premises, not only to the parts under assessment.
The route to your TISAX certificate
- 1Gap analysis
- 2Documentation
- 3Training
- 4Implementation
- 5Internal audits
- 6Closure of gaps
- 7Management review
- 8Certification audit
- 9Surveillance audits
Ready to put a date on TISAX?
TISAX questions we are asked most
What does TISAX involve in practice?
In practice that means documented processes matching how you really work, records showing the system running, people trained on their part of it, and an internal audit completed before anyone external arrives.
What is a realistic timeline for TISAX?
Plan on somewhere between eight and sixteen weeks. Organisations with existing procedures move faster; those starting from nothing spend most of the time on documentation and getting records actually made rather than promised.
Do you issue the TISAX certificate yourselves?
No, and no consultant should. The certificate comes from an independent accredited certification body after their own audit. We prepare you to pass it and we are there on the day to close findings. That separation is exactly what makes the certificate worth holding.
What does TISAX consultancy cost?
There is no useful list price for TISAX. Two organisations of the same size can differ by a factor of three depending on existing documentation. A short scoping call gets you an accurate written number.
Which industries need TISAX?
We map TISAX to 3 sectors and it sits in our automotive practice. Organisations usually arrive because a specific buyer, regulator or tender committee has asked. Tell us who is asking and we will confirm whether this is the standard that satisfies them.
Do you have to visit our premises?
We work onsite, remote or a mix. Multi site groups often use remote sessions for documentation and reserve site visits for the gap analysis and the audit itself, which keeps travel cost out of the fee.
Something about TISAX this page has not answered?
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News
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Articles
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Knowledge base
How things are actually done.
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Others in Automotive
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