Moldova adopted the EU-backed Cybersecurity Law with the assistance of Estonian experts

The Moldovan Parliament recently adopted a law to improve the cybersecurity of institutions providing vital services in the country, which was prepared with the assistance of experts from the e-Governance Academy (eGA) as part of the European Union’s Rapid Assistance Project.

According to eGA’s Senior Cybersecurity Expert Elsa Neeme, the adoption of the law is important because it contributes to the consistent provision of services to the Moldovan people and protection of the country’s critical infrastructure from cyberattacks. “The legislative changes achieved jointly with our Moldovan colleagues establish a firm foundation for making the Moldovan cyber space more secure and resilient,” said Neeme.

The law was drafted with the support of  Estonian e-Governance Academy`s (eGA) experts, who assisted the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization in defining a clear area of responsibility in the management of the country’s cybersecurity, developed basic cybersecurity requirements, a cyber incident management and monitoring mechanism, and information exchange platforms.

According to the law, the competent authority of Moldova designates, based on various criteria, the institutions and service providers that will be required to achieve a necessary level of cybersecurity. These essential service providers will also have to report significant cyber incidents in the future to the Moldovan competent authority.

“The adoption of the cybersecurity law is an important step for the Republic of Moldova to improve its resilience to hybrid threats and to create institutions in accordance with the relevant EU provisions. The European Union is glad to see continuous results from the Moldova Cybersecurity Rapid Assistance Project that started last spring,” said Jānis Mažeiks,the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova.

„Security, including cybersecurity, is a fundamental objective on the Moldovan agenda due to the country’s vulnerable geopolitical position between the European Union and Russia. When developing cybersecurity policy, we took over the best practices from the European Union, which will facilitate regional and international communication and help enhance security and resilience of the Moldova cyber space,” says Dumitru Alaiba, the Moldova’s deputy prime minister and minister of economic development and digitalization.

According to Hannes Astok, CEO of eGA, eGA has cooperated with the Moldovan public sector and NGOs on more than 16 projects in 20 years of operation. “We are currently contributing to increasing Moldova`s cybersecurity in two European Union assistance projects. The fist project aims to improve the cyber resilience of critical infrastructure in the public sector, while the second project aims to enhance the Moldovan armed force`s ability to repel cyberattacks,” noted Hannes Astok.

The support to the drafting of the Cybersecurity Law was provided within the European Union funded Moldova Rapid Assistance Project. The project aims to increase the cyber resilience of public sector organizations and key critical infrastructure sectors and align their operations with the European Union Directive on the security of network and information systems (EU NIS Directive). The project’s activities are carried out by the e-Governance Academy from May 2022 to November 2023. In addition, eGA is implementing the European Union Peace Facility’s cyber defense support, which will increase the ability of the Moldovan armed forces to detect infiltration of information systems and repel cyberattacks.

The Cybersecurity Act will enter into force in Moldova on 1 January 2025.

The text of the law is published here >>> https://www.legis.md/cautare/getResults?doc_id=136732&lang=ro