Participation of representatives of the SCIS in the annual meeting of the Multinational Industrial Security Working Group

Posted on 13 Sep 2011 09:43:00

In the period between 5 September and 8 September 2011 in Helsinki, Finland the annual meeting of the Multinational Industrial Security Working Group was held. The meeting was attended by representatives of 31 Member States, as observers of the European Commission, the European Defence Agency and the NATO Office of Security also participated.

The Republic of Bulgaria was represented by the Chairperson of the SCIS Mrs. Tsveta Markova and by Mrs. Ivelina Nacheva – Junior Expert from the Legal and International Legal Affairs Directorate.

During the sessions issues were discussed in the field of industrial security which are of common interest for the Member States (applicable procedures for request for international visits and for issuing of facility security clearances), as well as internal rules for the activity of MISWG like for example the document ‘Scope of Operations of MISWG’ in its part concerning the criteria for MISWG membership for non-NATO members states. The reports of the so called ad-hoc working groups were heard.  The MISWG member states that had adopted amendments in their national legislation in the field of industrial security for 201 briefed the rest of the participants by presenting their national reports.

The main subject of the MISWG Conference in 2011 was cyber security. Working groups with representatives of different member states were formed which after discussions on different themes in the field of cyber security tried to outline a possible approach of MISWG on this subject. The states participating in those working groups (5 in total) were randomly selected and the themes for discussions were: Common terminology, Legal Dimensions, Security Requirements in Cyber Space, Outsourcing and risks for cyber security.  

The Republic of Bulgaria took part in the working group where the subjects for the discussions were the legal dimensions of cyber security. In the frames of the discussions the sources of law in the field of cyber security were clarified and 5 (five) recommendations were addressed for implementation by the Member states on national level as follows:

1. When possible adoption of national legislation, regulations and measures with a view to covering the whole cycle of cyber security – from proper preparation for answer to cyber threats through counter-measures to the penal legal sanctions;
2. After identifying cyber threats establishing of co-operation between the public and the private sector in the field of cyber security;
3. On the base of good practices implementing of minimum criteria for security in the field of information technologies and communication;
4. Encouraging trainings and researches in the field of cyber security and development of the ‘security awareness principle’; 
5. International co-operation in investigations and in the criminal prosecutions of individuals who have committed cyber crimes.

The meeting concluded with the official handing over of the Bell of the Multinational Industrial Security Working Group to the next MISWG Host – the Slovak Republic.