The categorization and mapping of stakeholders and their mutual relations was one of the most important aims of the report. The most important areas in which national-level organizations have an impact on NIS was charted, i.e: Policy Development: the drafting of, or assistance in the process of drafting, governmental policies relating to NIS, NIS Policy Implementation, Privacy and Data Protection, Electronic Communications, CIP/CIIP: Critical Infrastructure Protection / Critical Information Infrastructure Protection, and [CERT]s: Computer Emergency Response Team.
The report found, not surprisingly, that institutions and responsibilities vary substantially from country to country. However, some general trends were identified:
- The most important actors for defining NIS policies are Governmental Organizations and Bodies: eg; the Ministry of Communications, the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications (where established), the National Office for Data Protection, the Ministry of Interior, Defence, or having shared responsibilities for different areas of NIS.
- Public Network and Information Security Bodies: Public NIS bodies with broad responsibilities exist in about one third of the countries. Their main tasks are eg. information gathering for IT security issues and scientific advice. Many also approve and certify the security of national information systems.
- CERTs: There are over 100 CERTs active in the EU, but their geographical distribution is very uneven. Almost all countries have 1 or 2 public sector CERTs. Most CERT acts as the national NIS point of contact and coordinate crisis response.
The Executive Director of ENISA, Mr Andrea Pirotti comments: "ENISA has done a comprehensive job in mapping the NIS situation in Europe through a number of reports that charts various aspects of NIS, eg, identifying Member States eID cards privacy features, and the Report on Scandinavian Awareness Raising to mention but a few. Together with this latest 'Country Reports', they weave a comprehensive picture of the NIS situation in Europe for all policy makers in the Member States and in the EU.'
For full report: http://enisa.europa.eu/...
Background: This project is not a benchmarking exercise. The material was compiled through the IDC and the ENISA National Liaison Officers reviewed the information. A new, updated and expanded edition of the 'Country Reports' will be published in 2010.