The Government has been urged to strengthen the country's cybersecurity defences in a new report on the risks facing Ireland.
The 'National Cyber Risk Assessment 2022', which was led by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), recommends the introduction of laws to ensure that the operators of essential and important services, service providers, and technology vendors embed appropriate cyber security measures in their products and services from the outset.
The report calls for the development of a framework to manage strategic supply chain dependency risks for critical and sensitive services.
It also recommends the establishment of a central register of all essential and important entities in the State.
The assessment from the NCSC includes an analysis of the risks that Ireland faces from a range of threats such as espionage and destructive cyberattacks posed by nation state actors, criminal organisations and hacktivist groups.
"Today's increasingly inter-connected world is dependent on digitalised processes, and it is vital that we work cohesively to ensure there is a high-level of cyber resilience across the State’s critical services," said Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan.
"This can be achieved through a number of measures, including by strengthening the potential for current and upcoming cyber security-related statutory regulations," Mr Ryan said.
The National Cyber Risk Assessment 2022 report was prepared by the NCSC, with the assistance of a steering group consisting of members from An Garda Síochána, the Office of Emergency Planning, the Defence Forces, the National Security Analysis Centre, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), and the Commission for Communications Regulation (Comreg).
"A large-scale digital breakdown post pandemic could cause more societal harm than it otherwise might have pre-pandemic, further underscoring the importance of robust cyber resilience across all sectors," said Minister of State Ossian Smyth.
"The publication of today's report provides a robust assessment of systemic cyber risks," Mr Smyth said.
