Following a long period of political turmoil, the UK government’s Brexit withdrawal bill has completed its passage through the House of Commons and received royal assent. While this deal is merely the starting point of the Brexit process, it sets into motion an intensive period of trade negotiations which, regardless of whether a deal is agreed or not, could have a significant impact on the way that UK organisations operate.

In a previous article, we discussed what the NIS Directive is. The European Union developed the Directive in response to the emerging cyber threats to critical infrastructure and the impact cyber-attacks have on society and the European digital market. The NIS Directive sets three primary objectives: The “actors of particular importance” are the operators providing essential services (OES) and digital service providers (DSP) in the EU.

The New York Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (SHIELD Act) or Senate Bill 5575, was enacted on July 25, 2019 as an amendment to the New York State Information Security Breach and Notification Act. The law goes into effect on March 21, 2020. The motivation behind the SHIELD Act is to update New York's data breach notification law to keep pace with current technology.

The NIS Directive is the first EU horizontal legislation addressing cybersecurity challenges and a true game-changer for cybersecurity resilience and cooperation in Europe. The Directive has three main objectives. The NIS Directive is the cornerstone of the EU’s response to the growing cyber threats and challenges which are accompanying the digitalization of our economic and societal life.