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Goodguys “Possess Illegally Obtained Data” too

The Home Office consultation on Computer Misuse Act (CMA) reform raises the possibility of a new offence of “possessing or using illegally obtained data”. This is presumably in response to the growing complexity of cyber-crime supply chains. It’s good to see immediate recognition that this will need “appropriate safeguards”. This post looks at why someone […]

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Articles

NIS 2 Directive: cybersecurity improvement for all

The final text of the revised European Network and Information Security Directive (NIS 2 Directive) has now been published. This doesn’t formally apply in the UK, but does have some helpful comments on using data protection law to support network and information security. I’ve blogged about these previously but, since the final version significantly changes […]

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Publications

CSIRT Information Sharing: completing the legal framework

[UPDATE: slides from my TF-CSIRT presentation are now available] Several years ago I wrote a paper on using the GDPR to decide when the benefits of sharing information among network defenders outweighed the risks. That used the Legitimate Interests balancing test to compare the expected benefits – in improving the security of accounts, systems or […]

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Articles

Draft NIS2 Directive: security teams “should” be collaborating

Anyone who works with flows, logs and other sources of information to protect network and information security should already be familiar with Recital 49 of the GDPR, where European legislators explained why that was (subject to a risk-based design) a good thing. Now the European Commission has published its draft of the replacement Network and […]

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Presentations

Data Protection and Incident Response

Early in 2021 I was invited to give a one-hour presentation on Data Protection and Incident Response, looking at how the demands of the two fields align and support each other, and how law and guidance have come to recognise that over the past decade or so. Incident Response and GDPR: slides Discussion at that […]

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Articles

NIS Directive – UK implementation published

The Government has published the Network and Information Security Regulations 2018, which will implement the EU NIS Directive in the UK from May 9th. The education sector is not covered by either law. Where we might have been inadvertently captured was in the provisions for DNS Services. These cover both authoritative domain servers and DNS […]

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Articles

Network and Information Security Directive – nearly done

[UPDATE: the Directive has now been published, with Member States required to transpose it into their national laws by 9 May 2018] The European Council has published the text of the Network and Information Security Directive recently agreed by its representatives and those of the European Parliament. This still needs to be “technically finalised” (in […]

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Articles

Reducing the Impact of Privacy Breaches

At present only public telecommunications providers are required by European law to notify their customers of security breaches affecting their privacy, including breaches that the confidentiality, integrity or availability of personal data. In the UK the Information Commissioner has published recommendations on handling privacy breaches, including when to notify those affected. Requirements to notify privacy […]

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Articles

EU Parliament committees on Network and Information Security

The various committees of the European Parliament have now published their response to the Commission’s draft Network and Information Security Directive. Their proposal is much more narrowly focussed than the Commission’s: public administrations are excluded (though individual Member States are allowed to opt theirs in), as they already “have to exert due diligence in the […]

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Closed Consultations

Draft Network and Information Security Directive: consultation summary

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has published a summary of the responses to its consultation on the proposed EU Directive on Network and Information Security (NIS) (JANET’s response). Summarising that summary (!): There seems to be agreement that there is a role for the EU in Network and Information Security, in particular in […]