cyprus

The DSA acts as the Single Point of Contact and the National Competent Authority (NCA) for implementing the NIS (Network and Information Security) Directive (EU) 2016/1148 in Cyprus, whilst also incorporating the National CSIRT (CSIRT-CY). The DSA consists of four Sections: (i) the Regulation, Strategy and Supervision section, including network and information security regulation and supervision for operators of essential services, as well as coordination of the National Cybersecurity Strategy, (ii) the Technical Operations (National CSIRTCY) (which acts as the technical section of the DSA, offering a range of proactive and reactive services, such as incident response), (iii) the National Cybersecurity Certification Authority NN, and (iv) the NCCC-CY. Supporting services, specifically, legal, IT, accounting and administration, are shared between the DSA and the Office of the Commissioner for Electronic Communications and Postal Regulation (“OCECPR”). OCECPR and DSA are under the same management (the Commissioner of Communications). Since its establishment in 2018, the DSA has developed advanced competency and expertise in the area of cybersecurity, by actively participating in several working groups of the NIS Cooperation Group, ECSO, ENISA, ECCG, ITU, OSCE, NCCs Network, EU-CyCLONe, etc. In addition, the DSA actively coordinates cybersecurity related actions at national level. The DSA is the Secretariat of the Cybersecurity Steering Committee of the National Cybersecurity Strategy where it also participates via the Commissioner of Communications. Also, the DSA participates in the consortium of a Digital Innovation Hub proposal. Furthermore, the DSA has close cooperation with the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, scheduling several activities and expanding synergies with the private sector. In this context, the DSA and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry are conducting a study to record the need for conducting cybersecurity training seminars for companies, while a private-public partnership is also under development towards the same direction, with the goal of setting up a cybersecurity framework for SMEs in Cyprus. Moreover, the DSA coordinates the ECSM (European Cybersecurity Month) activities in Cyprus and promotes Research and Innovation for Cybersecurity by conducting projects such as SENTINEL (Cyber Sensors for Critical Infrastructure protection and large-scale cyber range training environment) and CTIP (Cyber Threat Intelligence Platform) by collaborating with academic institutions. The DSA has built strong collaboration links with local academic institutions with cyber expertise over the past few years, as evidenced through their participation in such projects and in several working groups for the implementation of the National Cybersecurity Strategy.