Chapter VI – Information sharing (Art. 29-30)
Art. 29 NIS2 - Cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements arrow_right_alt
- Member States shall ensure that entities falling within the scope of this Directive and, where relevant, other entities not falling within the scope of this Directive are able to exchange on a voluntary basis relevant cybersecurity information among themselves, including information relating to cyber threats, near misses, vulnerabilities, techniques and procedures, indicators of compromise, adversarial tactics, threat-actor-specific information, cybersecurity alerts and recommendations regarding configuration of cybersecurity tools to detect cyberattacks, where such information sharing:
- aims to prevent, detect, respond to or recover from incidents or to mitigate their impact;
- enhances the level of cybersecurity, in particular through raising awareness in relation to cyber threats, limiting or impeding the ability of such threats to spread, supporting a range of defensive capabilities, vulnerability remediation and disclosure, threat detection, containment and prevention techniques, mitigation strategies, or response and recovery stages or promoting collaborative cyber threat research between public and private entities.
- Member States shall ensure that the exchange of information takes place within communities of essential and important entities, and where relevant, their suppliers or service providers. Such exchange shall be implemented through cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements in respect of the potentially sensitive nature of the information shared.
- Member States shall facilitate the establishment of cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article. Such arrangements may specify operational elements, including the use of dedicated ICT platforms and automation tools, content and conditions of the information-sharing arrangements. In laying down the details of the involvement of public authorities in such arrangements, Member States may impose conditions on the information made available by the competent authorities or the CSIRTs. Member States shall offer assistance for the application of such arrangements in accordance with their policies referred to in Article 7(2), point (h).
- Member States shall ensure that essential and important entities notify the competent authorities of their participation in the cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements referred to in paragraph 2, upon entering into such arrangements, or, as applicable, of their withdrawal from such arrangements, once the withdrawal takes effect.
- ENISA shall provide assistance for the establishment of cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements referred to in paragraph 2 by exchanging best practices and providing guidance.
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- 118
- 119
- 120
Recital 88
Essential and important entities should also address risks stemming from their interactions and relationships with other stakeholders within a broader ecosystem, including with regard to countering industrial espionage and protecting trade secrets. In particular, those entities should take appropriate measures to ensure that their cooperation with academic and research institutions takes place in line with their cybersecurity policies and follows good practices as regards secure access and dissemination of information in general and the protection of intellectual property in particular. Similarly, given the importance and value of data for the activities of essential and important entities, when relying on data transformation and data analytics services from third parties, those entities should take all appropriate cybersecurity risk-management measures.
Recital 118
Where information which is classified in accordance with Union or national law is exchanged, reported or otherwise shared under this Directive, the corresponding rules on the handling of classified information should be applied. In addition, ENISA should have the infrastructure, procedures and rules in place to handle sensitive and classified information in accordance with the applicable security rules for protecting EU classified information.
Recital 119
With cyber threats becoming more complex and sophisticated, good detection of such threats and their prevention measures depend to a large extent on regular threat and vulnerability intelligence sharing between entities. Information sharing contributes to an increased awareness of cyber threats, which, in turn, enhances entities’ capacity to prevent such threats from materialising into incidents and enables entities to better contain the effects of incidents and recover more efficiently. In the absence of guidance at Union level, various factors seem to have inhibited such intelligence sharing, in particular uncertainty over the compatibility with competition and liability rules.
Recital 120
Entities should be encouraged and assisted by Member States to collectively leverage their individual knowledge and practical experience at strategic, tactical and operational levels with a view to enhancing their capabilities to adequately prevent, detect, respond to or recover from incidents or to mitigate their impact. It is thus necessary to enable the emergence at Union level of voluntary cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements. To that end, Member States should actively assist and encourage entities, such as those providing cybersecurity services and research, as well as relevant entities not falling within the scope of this Directive, to participate in such cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements. Those arrangements should be established in accordance with the Union competition rules and Union data protection law.
Art. 30 NIS2 - Voluntary notification of relevant information arrow_right_alt
- Member States shall ensure that, in addition to the notification obligation provided for in Article 23, notifications can be submitted to the CSIRTs or, where applicable, the competent authorities, on a voluntary basis, by:
- essential and important entities with regard to incidents, cyber threats and near misses;
- entities other than those referred to in point (a), regardless of whether they fall within the scope of this Directive, with regard to significant incidents, cyber threats and near misses.
- Member States shall process the notifications referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23. Member States may prioritise the processing of mandatory notifications over voluntary notifications.
Where necessary, the CSIRTs and, where applicable, the competent authorities shall provide the single points of contact with the information about notifications received pursuant to this Article, while ensuring the confidentiality and appropriate protection of the information provided by the notifying entity. Without prejudice to the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences, voluntary reporting shall not result in the imposition of any additional obligations upon the notifying entity to which it would not have been subject had it not submitted the notification.
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Recital 60
Member States, in cooperation with ENISA, should take measures to facilitate coordinated vulnerability disclosure by establishing a relevant national policy. As part of their national policy, Member States should aim to address, to the extent possible, the challenges faced by vulnerability researchers, including their potential exposure to criminal liability, in accordance with national law. Given that natural and legal persons researching vulnerabilities could in some Member States be exposed to criminal and civil liability, Member States are encouraged to adopt guidelines as regards the non-prosecution of information security researchers and an exemption from civil liability for their activities.
Recital 105
A proactive approach to cyber threats is a vital component of cybersecurity risk management that should enable the competent authorities to effectively prevent cyber threats from materialising into incidents that may cause considerable material or non-material damage. For that purpose, the notification of cyber threats is of key importance. To that end, entities are encouraged to report on a voluntary basis cyber threats.
