Cyber-security, illustrative stock photo (source: Sme)
The parliament, during session on January 30, passed a law on cyber-security with the goal of ensuring the security of Slovakia’s cyber-space, the TASR newswire wrote.
The new law, which was approved with 88 yes-votes, was drawn up by the National Security Authority (NBÚ) in cooperation with the Office of Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and Informatisation Peter Pellegrini. The law will come into effect in April 2018.
EU-directive is also transposed
In its explanatory report, the NBÚ stated that it also transposes into the Slovak legal system a piece of European Union legislation on cyber-security, the so-called Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems (the NIS Directive). This directive is the first piece of EU-wide legislation that provides legal measures to boost the EU’s overall level of cyber-security.
“Networks and information systems play a crucial role in free movement and are often linked to the internet as a global tool,” the NBÚ wrote in its report, as cited by TASR. “Any violation of the network and information systems in one member state thus affects other member states and the EU as a whole.”
It also adds that resistant networks and stable information systems are therefore prerequisites for the smooth functioning of the EU internal market and credible international cooperation.
In this regard, Pellegrini stated that defence expenditures totalling 1.6 percent of GDP should also include expenditures on cyber defence, as a cyber attack in the country is a more realistic scenario than a classic military attack.
According to the new legislation, a cyber-security incident is defined as any event that has a negative impact on this type of security, or which results in the misuse or destruction of confidential data and violates system integrity.
