17/12/2020

EU unveils revamp of cybersecurity rules

The European Union unveiled Wednesday plans to revamp the 27-nation bloc's dated cybersecurity rules, just days after data on a new coronavirus vaccine was unlawfully accessed in a hack attack on the European Medicines Agency.  The EU last year recorded around 450 cyber incidents involving European infrastructure, notably in the financial and energy sectors, and the pandemic has highlighted Europe's deep dependence on the internet and exposed security weaknesses.The plans include an "EU-wide Cyber Shield" linking national security authorities that would use artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect early signs of attacks, a cyber unit to respond to incidents and threats, and beefing up cooperation between countries and with organizations like NATO. The EU's current Network Information System regulations date from 2008, and the European Commission's new proposals aim to bring them up to date and allow the EU to impose hefty fines on operators who break the rules.

The new cyber-strategy would focus on protecting essential infrastructure like electricity grids, heating systems, gas and hydrogen plants as well as air, rail, water and road links. Financial market and health infrastructure would also be among the priorities.The EU also wants to bolster its sanctions system related to cyber incidents, with a proposal for countries to agree on sanctions by qualified majority voting rather than unanimity. The Europeans imposed sanctions on people and organizations linked to Russia, China and North Korea this year. The new plans must now be debated by EU countries and the European Parliament and are likely to change substantially. Once agreed upon, the 27 nations would have 18 months to adopt and start applying the rules nationally.

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-eu-unveils-revamp-cybersecurity-days.html

Read Also: U.S: Massive hacker attack triggers National Security Council emergency meeting - Hack may have exposed deep secrets. Damage yet unknown

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet approved a bill Wednesday that would require companies involved in setting up critical infrastructure such as high-speed 5G networks to guarantee that their equipment can't be used for sabotage, espionage or terrorism. The bill, which now goes to parliament, seeks to address concerns that vendors such as Chinese tech company Huawei might pose a security risk if they have access to core parts of the German telecoms network. Companies will be required to submit a "guarantee" that contains details on how they ensure that components of critical systems can't be misused for illegal purposes. A vendor that fails to meet the threshold for trustworthiness can be banned from operating equipment.

Read More: https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-german-bill-requiring-5g-pledge.html

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