The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against SolarWinds Corporation and its chief information security officer, Timothy G Brown, alleging the defendants violated federal securities laws by misleading investors as to the adequacy of SolarWinds’ cybersecurity measures. Read more

In August 2023, the UK Government published its 2023 National Risk Register ("the Risk Register"), listing the 89 main publicly-acknowledged risks facing the UK. Cyber-attacks on gas infrastructure, electricity infrastructure, civil nuclear, fuel supply infrastructure, the health and social care system, the transport sector, telecommunications systems and one or more UK retail banks are cited as key risks in the report. Read more

On Thursday 25 July 2019, the City of Johannesburg's electricity service provider, City Power, suffered a ransomware attack which encrypted its databases, applications and network. The attack disabled the utility's website and prevented its customers from being able to purchase electricity from the utility which potentially impacted up to a quarter of a million customers. In addition, City Power was delayed from responding to localised blackouts, leaving several suburbs in the dark, as City Power's systems were unable to efficiently detect faults in the entity's distribution system. Read more

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s issue of a Wells Notice to SolarWinds Corporation's former and current executives this summer is a sharp reminder that there can be serious consequences for individuals following cyber security incidents. There is a global trend towards holding senior people within companies personally responsible for cyber security. Individuals can be sanctioned by regulators, find themselves facing action for breach of their fiduciary duties to their companies, and even the target of litigation, including in class actions by investors that name officers or directors as defendants in their individual capacity. Read more

In Germany, the Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, considered two amendments to the Constitution as part of an ambitious plan to strengthen cybersecurity across the nation. This followed from calls to strengthen cyber resilience for federal authorities, critical infrastructure and to modernise and expand cybersecurity architecture in Germany. Ms. Faeser noted that cybersecurity threats remained high. German authorities and businesses have been the target of cyberattacks since Russia's war in Ukraine. Disinformation, sabotage and espionage were also identified as critical issues. Read more

The NIS 2 Directive (Directive 2022/2555) on measures for a high common level of cyber security across the EU has now entered into force. Member states must now incorporate the provisions into their national law by October 2024. NIS 2 will replace its predecessor – NIS (Directive 2016/1148), which was the first cross-sector cyber security law in the EU. NIS 2 has been necessary because the speed at which network and information systems have developed into a central feature of everyday life has led to greater interconnectedness, including in cross-border exchanges and, with this, has come an expansion of the cyber threat landscape. The number, magnitude, sophistication, frequency and impact of incidents are increasing, and can impede the pursuit of economic activities in the internal market, generating financial loss, undermining user confidence and causing major damage to the Union’s economy and society. Cyber security preparedness and effectiveness are therefore now more essential than ever to the proper functioning of the internal market; "adapted, coordinated and innovative responses" are required in all member states, says the EU. NIS was not implemented consistently across member states with, for example, some services being categorised as "essential" in some countries but not in others. Read more

On March 15, 2022, US President Joe Biden signed the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA or the Act) into law.  Under its provisions, a broad range of private and public-sector entities operating in “critical infrastructure” sectors will for the first time have mandatory reporting obligations in connection with “cyber incidents” and ransomware attacks.  Specifically, “covered entities” are required to report certain “substantial” cyber incidents to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within 72 hours of the event, and to report ransomware payments within 24 hours of payment. Read more