UK will impose a fine businesses up to £17 million for cybersecurity lapses
The WannaCry ransom last year broke out worldwide and the British government obviously did not want to repeat the incident. According to Engadget, in order to urge enterprises to properly implement cybersecurity measures, relevant departments will impose a fine of up to £17 on improperly disposed of enterprises. This penalty system is, in fact, a response to the NIS directive adopted by the EU in August 2016 to ensure that all member states are prepared for a new kind of cyber attack.
It is learned that the British government will introduce the NIS directive into the country’s legal system to protect health, energy, transport and digital infrastructure.
“Fines would be a last resort and will not apply to operators which have assessed the risks adequately, taken appropriate security measures and engaged with regulators but still suffered an attack.”
“We want our essential services and infrastructure to be primed and ready to tackle cyber-attacks and be resilient against major disruption to services,” said the current Minister for Digital, Margot James.
“This could be systems, which the UK government and citizens rely on, like healthcare systems, water supply and electricity.”
For more details, the British government will set out in the official provisions.
