The Sri Lankan government has drafted a ‘Cyber Security Bill’ to protect vital information and essential services from cyber attacks, reports Daily News. The bill vests the government with powers to establish a ‘Cyber Security Agency’ and is meant to ‘empower’ the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team and National Cyber Security Operations Centre, which aim to protect “Critical Information Infrastructure”, necessary for the continuous delivery of essential services of the country. The draft bill awaits cabinet approval and will be presented thereafter to the Parliament, according to the non-cabinet minister of Digital Infrastructure and Information Technology Ajith P. Perera. PThe minister said that public consultation will be carried out foron the bill on June 6th. The minister also disclosed that the data protection bill is completed and will be legislated in parliament within the next three months. Understanding Sri Lanka's Cyber Security Bill The objective of “Cyber Security Bill” The Bill has been proposed to: ensure the effective implementation of the National Cyber Security Strategy in Sri Lanka prevent, mitigate and respond to cyber security threats and incidents effectively and efficiently establish the Cyber Security Agency to strengthen the institutional framework for cyber security and protect critical information infrastructure. In November 2018, the Government of Sri Lanka introduced the country's first Information and Cyber Security Strategy, to be implemented over a period of five years starting 2019. What is ‘Critical Information Infrastructure’? “Critical Information Infrastructure” (CII) includes all computers or computer systems located wholly or partly in Sri Lanka,…
