UK Parliament has introduced the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill which seeks to strengthen national security by boosting cyber protections for the services including the NHS.
Hospitals, energy and water supplies and transport networks will be better protected from the threat of cyber-attacks under new laws.
Under the proposals medium and large companies providing services like IT management, IT help desk support and cyber security to private and public sector organisations like the NHS, will also be regulated for the first time.
They will need to meet clear security duties which includes reporting significant or potentially significant cyber incidents promptly to government and their customers as well as having robust plans in place to deal with the consequences.
Regulators will be given new powers to designate critical suppliers to the UK’s essential services such as those providing healthcare diagnostics to the NHS or chemicals to a water firm, where they meet the criteria.
This would mean they’d have to meet minimum security requirements – shutting down gaps in supply chains criminals could exploit which could cause wider disruption.
Enforcement will be modernised, including tougher turnover-based penalties for serious breaches with the Technology Secretary granted new powers to instruct regulators.
This also includes changes to the organisations they oversee, like NHS trusts and Thames Water, to take specific, proportionate steps to prevent cyber attacks where there is a threat to UK national security.
National Cyber Security Centre CEO Dr Richard Horne said: “The real-world impacts of cyber attacks have never been more evident than in recent months, and at the NCSC we continue to work round the clock to empower organisations in the face of rising threats.
“As a nation, we must act at pace to improve our digital defences and resilience, and the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill represents a crucial step in better protecting our most critical services.”
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