Securing agricultural IoT at scale: A review of lifecycle controls, patchability, and EU regulatory pressures

Abstract

Precision agriculture represents a transformative approach to farming, leveraging digital technologies to optimize productivity, sustainability, and resource efficiency. However, its rapid digitization introduces a growing attack surface, making cybersecurity and ethical governance increasingly critical (Adewusi et al. 2023). This survey provides a structured and interdisciplinary extension of a previously published paper (Vlădută et al. 2026) on cybersecurity challenges in precision agriculture, with a particular focus on emerging threat patterns, vulnerability propagation across cyber–physical systems, and regulatory-technical misalignments. The methodology combines thematic literature synthesis, regulatory analysis (e.g., GDPR, NIS2, CRA), and case-driven insights to map the landscape of threats and mitigation strategies. Given the importance of the topic and the regulatory approach presented, we considered that it will benefit the specific literature to extend the initial paper and offer more context to the readers while minimizing overlap, given the initial positive feedback received on the first paper. The study identifies three critical gaps: (1) regulatory-technical implementation challenges due to misaligned compliance models, (2) lack of traceability for cascading vulnerabilities in IoT-based systems, and (3) underdeveloped frameworks for human-centered cybersecurity in agricultural operations. Additionally, the article highlights the absence of structured agri-specific cyber threat intelligence (Ag-CTI) and adversarial robustness in AI-based agronomic systems. By integrating ethical considerations and security-by-design principles, this review offers a foundational agenda for future research and development in agri-cybersecurity. As the food industry becomes increasingly dependent on data-driven systems (Kasar et al. 2025), ensuring a resilient and ethically aligned digital infrastructure in agriculture emerges as a global imperative.