Weeks: new board to ensure island is cyber safe
Two advisers from the private sector have been appointed to the cybersecurity board, the Minister of National Security said yesterday.
Michael Weeks told the House of Assembly that the advisory body would bring together public officers and the private sector to develop and oversee the island’s cybersecurity policies.
He said he was looking forward to working with the board members in the “vital task” of ensuring that Bermuda is cyber safe.
The full composition of the board, including its chairman and deputy chair, will be made public through the Official Gazette in the coming days.
The board will advise the Government on cybersecurity and the protection of crucial infrastructure.
In accordance with the Cybersecurity Act 2024, the body will update the national security minister every six months.
Mr Weeks said: “The report will include information on the general state of cybersecurity in Bermuda and will be used to inform the Cabinet’s decision-making on cybersecurity matters for the country and for the public service.”
It will advise the Cabinet on the island’s national cybersecurity strategy and the internal government cybersecurity programme.
It will inform the public service executive on the management of government cybersecurity and advise public officers on their responsibilities.
The board will address critical national information infrastructure enforcement authorities, and co-ordinate collaboration among the Government and other critical national information infrastructure enforcement authorities.
The board will include:
•The Chief Information Security Officer and the National Disaster co-ordinator from the Ministry of National Security
•The Chief Information Officer in the Department of Information and Digital Technologies
•The head of the Bermuda Public Access to Information/Personal Information Protection Unit
•A representative from the Bermuda Police Service
•The Bermuda Hospitals Board Chief Information Security Officer
•Two private sector cybersecurity advisers
•A lawyer with cybersecurity experience
Mr Weeks said the cybersecurity unit was continuing consultation to ensure that those identified as CNII enforcement agencies and CNII entities understood how the Cybersecurity Act would affect them.
With the assistance of the new board and the cyber unit, the Government intends to support the development of a cybersecurity framework to protect both public and privately owned critical national information infrastructure.
In the wake of last September’s cyberattack on government systems, another piece of legislation, the Computer Misuse Act 2024, was approved by Parliament, giving the island an additional layer of protection against cybercrime.
The legislation focused on criminal offences committed using a computer, including unauthorised access to a computer or IT systems.
It gives police the power to investigate and make arrests in relation to cyber offences and sets the parameters within which the Department of Public Prosecutions can initiate proceedings against a suspect.
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