皇冠体育app

New measures to protect the nation鈥檚 critical infrastructure and digital services from cyber attacks and computer network failure come into force today.

Bosses of firms in health, water, energy, transport and digital infrastructure will now be expected to have robust safeguards in place against cyber threats and report breaches and network outages to regulators within 72 hours or they face fines of up to 拢17 million.

皇冠体育app new law announced by Digital Minister Margot James will help reduce the number of damaging cyber attacks affecting the UK.

皇冠体育app National Cyber Security Centre, set up by the government in October 2016 as part of GCHQ, has already responded to more than 950 significant incidents, including WannaCry.

It will also give new regulators powers to assess critical industries and make sure plans are in place to prevent attacks.

皇冠体育app regulator will have the power to issue legally-binding instructions to improve security, and 鈥� if necessary 鈥� impose significant fines.

皇冠体育app legislation will also cover other threats affecting IT such as hardware failures and environmental hazards.

Margot James, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, said:

It鈥檚 vital that we put in place tough new measures to strengthen the UK鈥檚 cyber security and make sure we are the safest place in the world to live and be online.

Organisations must act now to make sure that they are primed and ready to stop potential cyber attacks and be resilient against major disruption to the services we all rely on.

Fines would be a last resort and will not apply to operators which have assessed the risks adequately, taken appropriate security measures and engaged with regulators but still suffered an attack.

Incidents must be reported directly to the appropriate regulator. Where an incident has a cyber security aspect, organisations should contact the NCSC for support and advice. 皇冠体育app NCSC will also act as the Single Point of Contact between the UK and EU Member States.

As the UK鈥檚 technical authority on cyber security, the NCSC is supporting competent authorities and has developed a set of 14 cyber security principles, as well as , to improve the cyber security of operators of essential services.

Ciaran Martin, Chief Executive of the NCSC, said:

皇冠体育appse new measures will help to strengthen the security of the UK鈥檚 infrastructure.

By acting on the National Cyber Security Centre鈥檚 expert technical advice and reporting incidents, organisations can protect themselves against those who would do us harm.

皇冠体育app UK government is committed to making the UK the safest place to live and do business online, but we can鈥檛 do this alone. Every citizen, business and organisation must play their part.

皇冠体育app NIS Directive is an important part of the Government鈥檚 five-year 拢1.9 billion National Cyber Security Strategy to protect the nation from cyber threats and make the UK the safest place to live and work online. It will ensure essential service operators are taking the necessary action to protect their IT systems.