In the face of a startling increase in the sophistication and frequency of cyberattacks in the UK, especially against essential everyday services including water, energy, and transport, the UK government has confirmed their plans to strengthen the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations to protect these essential and digital services from cyber threats.
What Reforms Will Be Made?
Brought into force in 2018, the NIS Regulations are in place to improve cyber security for companies providing critical services. Under these regulations, a failure to put in place effective cyber security measures can cost companies up to £17 million in fines for non-compliance.
Managed Service Providers (MSPs) provide IT support, such as security monitoring and digital billing, for companies who lack the resources to maintain their online systems. Cyber criminals see MSPs as an attractive target since they have privileged access to individuals’ IT networks. The cyber law reforms aim to better encapsulate MSPs, which are key to the functioning of the essential services that maintain the UK economy.
When Will Reforms Be Made?
The NIS regulations updates will apply to critical service providers such as water, energy, and transport as well as important digital service providers such as cloud computing providers and online search engines. These updates will occur as soon as parliamentary time feasibly allows.
How Will Cyber Laws Be Handled Going Forward?
The cyber security reforms will give the government the ongoing power to make amendments to the NIS Regulations to ensure it continues to evolve with the constantly changing cyber security landscape.
Regulators will also be permitted to establish a cost recovery system that is more transparent and operates based on a holistic understanding of the issue to enable it to better enforce the new NIS regulations.
Finally, the Information Commissioner will be permitted to handle digital services regulation with a more risk-based approach, considering the importance of these critical providers to the functioning and resilience of the essential services that keep the UK economy running.
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