It has been reported that the UK’s cybersecurity laws will be updated to require outsourced IT providers to meet security standards as part of efforts to better protect supply chains, the Government has announced. The Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations will be updated so third-party firms providing IT services to businesses will be compelled to have effective cybersecurity measures in place to protect them and their client’s data, with fines for non-compliance.
Those rules already apply to UK companies providing critical services in a range of sectors including energy, water and transport, but will now bring outsourced firms into scope as well. The decision comes after a consultation and in the wake of increasing levels of cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructure in countries around the world as a way of inflicting substantial damage on entire nations. The Government said it has noted the increase in attacks, which also target supply chains as a way of compromising potentially thousands of organisations at the same time.
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