New EU cybersecurity law avoids making big Internet companies report breaches

[Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2107900/new-eu-cybersecurity-law-avoids-making-big-internet-companies-report-breaches.html

Europe on Thursday approved a new cybersecurity law, but held back from
requiring Internet giants such as Google, Amazon, Ebay and Skype, to report
security incidents.

Members of the European Parliament voted by a huge majority to approve the
Network and Information Security (NIS) directive.

Under the original proposals, so-called "enablers of information society
services" would have been required to report any security breach that has
"significantly affects the continuity of critical services and supply of
goods" to a national authority, whether data had been compromised or not.

But the law as approved by parliament on Thursday now extends only to
companies that own, operate or provide technology for critical
infrastructure facilities.

Business organizations were quick to welcome the law. "We commend the
European Parliament for wisely focusing the directive on the critical
infrastructure elements."This Directive will succeed if it is based on
clear and future-proof definitions and a proportional, risk-based approach
that allows the private sector to continue to innovate," said Thomas Boué,
policy director at BSA, the Software Alliance.

But Pirate Party member of the European Parliament, Amelia Andersdotter,
said she had been one of the minority voting against the law because "it
does all the wrong things and none of the right things."

"This vote today is very positive news for European citizens. Member states
need to be ready to address cyber attacks. Today there are gaps in some
countries and we need to fill them.

We are only as strong as the weakest link," said Digital Agenda
Commissioner Neelie Kroes who put forward the proposals.

It will be up to member states how they write the directive into national
law, so sanctions for failing to report an incident will vary from country
to country. However Article 15 stipulates that member states must
investigate all cases of noncompliance.

Kroes says she wants to reach an agreement with EU member states by the end
of 2014.

According to the Commission, 93 percent of large corporations experienced a
cyber attack in 2012. Yet nearly three quarters of 160 respondents to an
online Commission consultation said that the requirement to report cyber
incidents would not incur any additional costs, and more than two thirds
said that implementing a state-of-the-art NIS risk-management system would
not result in increased costs.

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