August 14, 2017

The Government explains that as our reliance on technology grows, the impact of failure in those systems and the opportunities for those who would seek to compromise our systems and data increase. Responding to this threat and ensuring the safety and security of cyberspace is an essential requirement for a prosperous UK economy, it says. “We need to secure our technology, data and networks in order to keep our businesses, citizens and public services protected.”

The European Commission, in cooperation with Member States, has agreed a Directive with the aim of increasing the security of Network and Information Systems (NIS) within the European Union. The Government says that it supports the aims of the Directive and sets out in this consultation the proposed implementation approach in the UK.

The Government says that the NIS Directive will help make sure UK operators in electricity, transport, water, energy, transport, health and digital infrastructure are prepared to deal with the increasing numbers of cyber threats. It will also cover other threats affecting IT, such as power failures, hardware failures and environmental hazards.

The consultation seeks views from industry, regulators and other interested parties on the Government’s plans to transpose the Directive into UK legislation. It sets out the Government’s proposed transposition approach and asks a series of questions on a range of detailed policy issues relating to transposition.

The consultation covers:

• the essential services the directive needs to cover;
• the penalties;
• the competent authorities to regulate and audit specific sectors;
• the security measures the Government proposes to impose;
• timelines for incident reporting; and
• how this affects Digital Service Providers.

The consultation closes at 11:45pm on 30 September 2017. To access the consultation, click here.