L 333/90
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
27.12.2022
(51)
Member States should encourage the use of any innovative technology, including artificial intelligence, the use of which could improve the detection and prevention of cyberattacks, enabling resources to be diverted towards cyberattacks more effectively.
Member States should therefore encourage in their national cybersecurity strategy activities in research and development to facilitate the use of such technologies, in particular those relating to automated or semi-automated tools in cybersecurity, and, where relevant, the sharing of data needed for training users of such technology and for improving it.
The use of any innovative technology, including artificial intelligence, should comply with Union data protection law, including the data protection principles of data accuracy, data minimisation, fairness and transparency, and data security, such as state-of-the-art encryption.
The requirements of data protection by design and by default laid down in Regulation (EU) 2016/679 should be fully exploited.
(52)
Open-source cybersecurity tools and applications can contribute to a higher degree of openness and can have a positive impact on the efficiency of industrial innovation.
Open standards facilitate interoperability between security tools, benefitting the security of industrial stakeholders.
Open-source cybersecurity tools and applications can leverage the wider developer community, enabling diversification of suppliers.
Open source can lead to a more transparent verification process of cybersecurity related tools and a community-driven process of discovering vulnerabilities.
Member States should therefore be able to promote the use of open-source software and open standards by pursuing policies relating to the use of open data and open-source as part of security through transparency.
Policies promoting the introduction and sustainable use of open-source cybersecurity tools are of particular importance for small and medium-sized enterprises facing significant costs for implementation, which could be minimised by reducing the need for specific applications or tools.
(53)
Utilities are increasingly connected to digital networks in cities, for the purpose of improving urban transport networks, upgrading water supply and waste disposal facilities and increasing the efficiency of lighting and the heating of buildings.
Those digitalised utilities are vulnerable to cyberattacks and run the risk, in the event of a successful cyberattack, of harming citizens at a large scale due to their interconnectedness.
Member States should develop a policy that addresses the development of such connected or smart cities, and their potential effects on society, as part of their national cybersecurity strategy.
(54)
In recent years, the Union has faced an exponential increase in ransomware attacks, in which malware encrypts data and systems and demands a ransom payment for release.
The increasing frequency and severity of ransomware attacks can be driven by several factors, such as different attack patterns, criminal business models around ‘ransomware as a service’ and cryptocurrencies, ransom demands, and the rise of supply chain attacks.
Member States should develop a policy addressing the rise of ransomware attacks as part of their national cybersecurity strategy.
(55)
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the field of cybersecurity can provide an appropriate framework for knowledge exchange, the sharing of best practices and the establishment of a common level of understanding among stakeholders.
Member States should promote policies underpinning the establishment of cybersecurity-specific PPPs.
Those policies should clarify, inter alia, the scope and stakeholders involved, the governance model, the available funding options and the interaction among participating stakeholders with regard to PPPs.
PPPs can leverage the expertise of private-sector entities to assist the competent authorities in developing state-of-the-art services and processes including information exchange, early warnings, cyber threat and incident exercises, crisis management and resilience planning.
(56)
Member States should, in their national cybersecurity strategies, address the specific cybersecurity needs of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Small and medium-sized enterprises represent, across the Union, a large percentage of the industrial and business market and often struggle to adapt to new business practices in a more connected world and to the digital environment, with employees working from home and business increasingly being conducted online.
Some small and medium-sized enterprises face specific cybersecurity challenges such as low cyber-awareness, a lack of remote IT security, the high cost of cybersecurity solutions and an increased level of threat, such as ransomware, for which they should receive guidance and assistance.
Small and medium-sized enterprises are increasingly becoming the target of supply chain attacks due to their less rigorous cybersecurity risk-management measures and attack management, and the fact that they have limited security resources.
Such supply chain attacks not only have an impact on small and medium-sized enterprises and their operations in isolation but can also have a cascading effect on larger attacks on entities to which they provided supplies.
Member States should, through their national