Brussels: industry must do more to prevent hacks | financial
According to the outgoing minister Stef Blok (Economic Affairs), government involvement is practical matters that have greater economic and social consequences. In our country, for example, it was no longer possible to get prepackaged slices of mature cheese on the shelves of Albert Heijn due to a hack at a supplier and cyber criminals temporarily prevented cars from being produced at the VDL factory in Born in Limburg.
Guard dog
Blok and his fellow ministers now agree on the introduction of rules that will force them to better secure their digital systems. There will also be a reporting obligation for serious cyber incidents. After such an incident, a company’s cyber watchdog has taken measures to prevent a recurrence.
Strict rules have been in place for some time for ‘essential sectors’, such as banks and energy companies. The EU now wants to extend the cyber approach to ‘key suppliers’. Small companies are spared, partly thanks to the efforts of the Netherlands.
The agreement of the ministers is an important first step. The hope is that, after negotiations with the European Parliament and the European Commission, a final agreement can be reached next year. The Hague must then pour the rules into Dutch legislation.