NCSI FULFILMENT PERCENTAGE
Version 23 Jan 2023
GENERAL CYBER SECURITY INDICATORS
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1. Cyber security policy development 6/7 86%67 86%
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1.1. Cyber security policy unit 333
Requirements
CriteriaA central government entity (ministry or equivalent) has a specialised official or unit responsible for national cyber security policy development.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_loi/change_lg.pl?language=fr&la=F&cn=2014101008&table_name=loi
Legal act (French version)
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_loi/change_lg.pl?language=nl&la=N&cn=2014101008&table_name=wet
Legal act (Dutch version)
https://www.ccb.belgium.be/en/organisation
Entity's official website
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1.2. Cyber security policy coordination format 222
Requirements
CriteriaThe central government has a committee, council, working group, etc. for national-level cyber security policy coordination.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
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1.3. Cyber security strategy 111
Requirements
CriteriaThe central government has established a national-level cyber security strategy or other equivalent document.
Accepted referencesValid official document
Evidence
https://ccb.belgium.be/sites/default/files/CCB_Strategie%202.0_UK_WEB.pdf
New Cyber security strategy 2.0: 2021-2025
English version
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1.4. Cyber security strategy implementation plan 001
Requirements
CriteriaThe central government has established an implementation plan to the national-level cyber security strategy or other equivalent document.
Accepted referencesValid official document or its enforcement act
Evidence
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2. Cyber threat analysis and information 5/5 100%55 100%
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2.1. Cyber threats analysis unit 333
Requirements
CriteriaA central government entity has a national-level unit that is specialised in national strategic cyber threat situation analysis.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
https://ccb.belgium.be/en/organisation
Cyber Threat Research and Intelligence Sharing (CyTRIS)
The CyTRIS (Cyber Threat Research and Intelligence Sharing) Department of the Center for Cybersecurity Belgium monitors the cyber threats and publishes regular reports. The Team collects, analyzes and distributes information on threats, vulnerabilities and attacks on the information and communication systems of Belgium's vital sectors (critical infrastructure, government systems, critical data).
CyTRIS is also responsible for the Early Warning System (EWS). The EWS includes the information exchange platforms of the Belgian CSIRT. CyTRIS is responsible for the operational communication and information exchange with other national CSIRT. CyTRIS also provides the "Spear Warning" procedure. A "Spear Warning" is an individual warning about an infection or vulnerability sent to organizations.
The Quarterly Cyber Threat Report (QCTR) events, organized by CyTRIS, bring together different stakeholders and consultation platforms at least once a quarter and inform all participants as well as the Organizations of Vital Interest about the active cyber threats. At the QCTR event, the operation of the Early Warning System (EWS) is also discussed. Through this platform, the CyTRIS Team sends pertinent and analyzed threat information to national security agencies, Vital Interest Organizations, their sectoral authorities and other partners.
The QCTR is also offered as a webinar and is open to anyone, worldwide (https://app.livestorm.co/ccb?lang=en).
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2.2. Public cyber threat reports are published annually 111
Requirements
CriteriaThe public part of the national cyber threat situation analysis is published at least once a year.
Accepted referencesOfficial public report
Evidence
https://ccb.belgium.be/en/organisation
Cyber Threat Research and Intelligence Sharing (CyTRIS)
The CyTRIS (Cyber Threat Research and Intelligence Sharing) Department of the Center for Cybersecurity Belgium monitors the cyber threats and publishes regular reports. The Team collects, analyzes and distributes information on threats, vulnerabilities and attacks on the information and communication systems of Belgium's vital sectors (critical infrastructure, government systems, critical data).
CyTRIS is also responsible for the Early Warning System (EWS). The EWS includes the information exchange platforms of the Belgian CSIRT. CyTRIS is responsible for the operational communication and information exchange with other national CSIRT. CyTRIS also provides the "Spear Warning" procedure. A "Spear Warning" is an individual warning about an infection or vulnerability sent to organizations.
The Quarterly Cyber Threat Report (QCTR) events, organized by CyTRIS, bring together different stakeholders and consultation platforms at least once a quarter and inform all participants as well as the Organizations of Vital Interest about the active cyber threats. At the QCTR event, the operation of the Early Warning System (EWS) is also discussed. Through this platform, the CyTRIS Team sends pertinent and analyzed threat information to national security agencies, Vital Interest Organizations, their sectoral authorities and other partners.
The QCTR is also offered as a webinar and is open to anyone, worldwide (https://app.livestorm.co/ccb?lang=en).
https://app.livestorm.co/ccb?lang=en
Quarterly Cyber Threat Reports plus webinar
https://www.cert.be/en/reports-and-alerts
Different reports are being published as for example the vulnerabilities report 2020: https://www.cert.be/en/paper/vulnerabilities-report-2020
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2.3. Cyber safety and security website 111
Requirements
CriteriaPublic authorities provide at least one cyber safety and security website for cyber security and ICT professionals, and regular users.
Accepted referencesWebsite
Evidence
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3. Education and professional development 9/9 100%99 100%
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3.1. Cyber safety competencies in primary or secondary education 111
Requirements
CriteriaPrimary or secondary education curricula include cyber safety / computer safety competences.
Accepted referencesOfficial curriculum or official report
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3.2. Bachelor’s level cyber security programme 222
Requirements
CriteriaThere is at least one cyber security / electronic information security focused programme at Bachelor’s or equivalent level.
Accepted referencesAccredited study programme
Evidence
https://ccb.belgium.be/en/ict-security-education-belgium
see all bachelors with regards to cyber, ICT
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3.3. Master’s level cyber security programme 222
Requirements
CriteriaThere is at least one cyber security / electronic information security focused programme at Master’s or equivalent level.
Accepted referencesAccredited study programme
Evidence
https://ccb.belgium.be/en/ict-security-education-belgium
see all different bachelor/masters available in Belgium
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3.4. PhD level cyber security programme 222
Requirements
CriteriaThere is at least one cyber security / electronic information security focused programme at PhD or equivalent level.
Accepted referencesAccredited study programme
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3.5. Cyber security professional association 222
Requirements
CriteriaThere is a professional association of cyber/electronic information security specialists, managers or auditors.
Accepted referencesWebsite
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4. Contribution to global cyber security 6/6 100%66 100%
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4.1. Convention on Cybercrime 111
Requirements
CriteriaThe country has ratified the Convention on Cybercrime.
Accepted referencesOfficial website of the convention
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4.2. Representation in international cooperation formats 111
Requirements
CriteriaThe government is regularly represented in a cooperation format that is dedicated to international cyber security (e.g. FIRST).
Accepted referencesOfficial website of the cooperation format
Evidence
https://www.first.org/members/teams/#belgium
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/nis-cooperation-group
The Centre for Cyber security is the SPOC for the NIS group.
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4.3. International cyber security organisation hosted by the country 333
Requirements
CriteriaA regional or international cyber security organisation is hosted by the country.
Accepted referencesOrganisation’s official website
Evidence
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4.4. Cyber security capacity building for other countries 111
Requirements
CriteriaThe country has (co-)financed or (co-)organised at least one capacity building project for another country in the last 3 years.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or project document
Evidence
https://www.enabel.be/app/uploads/2022/10/enabel_2020-2021_activity_report_0.pdf
2020-2021: Palestine (p.35)
Project by ENABEL, the Belgian Development Agency, in Palestine
Digital harassment Wehubit, Enabel’s programme that invests in digital social innovations, has supported an initiative to prevent gender-based violence and to strengthen women’s rights and establish safe, accessible and inclusive digital spaces promoting women’s political participation and leadership. The project has strengthened the capacity and knowledge of young, female and male, cyber-activists on ICT use, digital security and gender-based violence on the Internet. In total, in two years more than 50,000 young people engaged in the dialogue on cyber violence and spoke on digital platforms in critical workshops involving policy makers. The components of this project – national campaigns, face-to-face physical and online awareness and capacity-building sessions – have reached almost one million people.
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BASELINE CYBER SECURITY INDICATORS
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5. Protection of digital services 5/5 100%55 100%
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5.1. Cyber security responsibility for digital service providers 111
Requirements
CriteriaAccording to legislation, digital service providers (except micro and small enterprises): (1) must manage cyber/ICT risks or (2) must implement established cyber/information security requirements.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/2019/04/07/2019011507/justel
Article 33. The security requirements (DSP – Digital Service Providers)
Article 39. Norm ISO/IEC 17021 of ISO/IEC 17065
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5.2. Cyber security standard for the public sector 111
Requirements
CriteriaPublic sector digital service providers must implement (1) cyber/ICT security requirements (defined by legislation) or (2) a widely recognised security standard.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_loi/change_lg.pl?language=nl&la=N&cn=2019040715&table_name=wet
NIS law
Art. 33. § 1. Digital service providers shall identify the risks to the security of the network and information systems they use for the provision in the European Union of the services referred to in Annex II and shall take appropriate and proportionate technical and organizational measures to control those risks.
These measures shall ensure, taking into account the state of the art, a level of security of network and information systems commensurate with the risks presented, and shall take into account the following aspects:
(a) the security of systems and facilities;
(b) the handling of incidents;
(c) business continuity management;
(d) monitoring, control and testing;
e) compliance with international standards.
§ 2. The digital service providers shall also take measures to prevent and minimize incidents affecting the security of their network and information systems, for the services referred to in Annex II of this Law offered in the European Union, in order to ensure the continuity of these services.Art. 47. § 1. The King shall determine the practical details of the supervision of the digital service providers.
§ 2. In particular, the digital service provider shall:
(a) provide the competent inspection authority with the information necessary to assess the security of its network and information systems, including documented security policies, within the specified timeframe;
b) rectify any non-compliance with the security and incident reporting requirements within the specified timeframe.
§ 3. In accordance with the rules determined by the King, the Inspectorate may, if necessary, take action through ex-post supervisory measures when it obtains evidence that a digital service provider does not comply with the security requirements or incident reporting requirements. Such evidence may be presented by a competent authority of another member state of the European Union where the service is provided.
§ 4. In its ex-post controls the inspection authority shall have the same powers as those referred to in Article 44.
§ 5. If a digital service provider has its head office or a representative in Belgium but its network and information systems are located in one or more other countries, the inspection authority may, in consultation with the authority referred to in Article 7 § 1, request the competent supervisory authorities of those other countries to cooperate and assist it. Such assistance and cooperation may relate to information exchange and requests for supervisory measures.
§ (6) In accordance with the rules laid down by the King, the inspection service may also exercise the powers referred to in this Article at the request of competent authorities of another Member State of the European Union.
§ (7) The authority referred to in Article 7(1) can ask the inspection service to send it the inspection reports of a digital service provider.
§ (8) The King can, by a decree established after consultation in the Council of Ministers and after advice from the sectoral authorities, fix fees for the inspection services. These fees are payable by the digital service providers. The King shall determine the detailed rules of calculation and payment. -
5.3. Competent supervisory authority 333
Requirements
CriteriaThe government has a competent authority in the field of cyber/information security that has the power to supervise public and private digital service providers regarding the implementation of cyber/information security requirements.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/2019/04/07/2019011507/justel#LNK0006
Chapter 3, article . § 5, "An inspectorate shall be set up per sector or, where appropriate, per sub-sector to monitor compliance by providers of essential services or digital service providers with the provisions of this Act and its implementing decrees."
§ 2. The King designates the authority which fulfils the role of national CSIRT.
The national CSIRT represents Belgium within the CSIRT network referred to in Article 12 of the NIS Directive. It contributes effectively, efficiently and securely to the missions of the CSIRT network. (CCB)
§ 3. The King appoints, by decree adopted after consultation in the Council of Ministers, the sectoral authorities responsible, for their respective sector, for supervising the implementation of the provisions of this Act..
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6. Protection of essential services 6/6 100%66 100%
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6.1. Operators of essential services are identified 111
Requirements
CriteriaThere is a legal act that allows to identify operators of essential services.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/2019/04/07/2019011507/justel#LNK0012
Title 2, Chapter 1 and Annex 1
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6.2. Cyber security requirements for operators of essential services 111
Requirements
CriteriaAccording to the legislation, operators of essential services must manage cyber/ICT risks.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/2019/04/07/2019011507/justel#LNK0011
Title 2, Chapter 2, Art. 22: norm ISO/IEC 27001
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6.3. Competent supervisory authority 333
Requirements
CriteriaThe government has a competent authority in the field of cyber/information security that has the power to supervise operators of essential services, regarding cyber/information security requirements.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/2019/04/07/2019011507/justel#LNK0012
Title 1, Chapter 2, Article 7 and Title 4, Chapter 1, Article 38
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6.4. Regular monitoring of security measures 111
Requirements
CriteriaOperators of essential services must regularly (at least once every 3 years) provide evidence of the effective implementation of cyber/information security policies (e.g. audit result, documentation, specific report).
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/2019/04/07/2019011507/justel#LNK0012
Chapter 1 , Article 38
The provider of essential services shall carry out an annual internal audit of the network and information systems at its own expense.
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7. E-identification and trust services 9/9 100%99 100%
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7.1. Unique persistent identifier 111
Requirements
CriteriaThe government provides a unique persistent identifier to all citizens, residents, and legal entities. For example, the identifier remains the same after document expiration and name change.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
See question 5: What is the identification number
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7.2. Requirements for cryptosystems 111
Requirements
CriteriaRequirements for cryptosystems in the field of trust services are regulated.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
https://repository.eid.belgium.be/downloads/citizen/archive/en/CITIZEN_CA_2018.pdf
Belgian Certificate Policy & Practice Statement for eID PKI infrastructure Citizen CA
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7.3. Electronic identification 111
Requirements
CriteriaElectronic identification is regulated.
Accepted referencesLegal act
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7.4. Electronic signature 111
Requirements
CriteriaE-signature is regulated
Accepted referencesLegal act
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7.5. Timestamping 111
Requirements
CriteriaTimestamping is regulated.
Accepted referencesLegal act
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7.6. Electronic registered delivery service 111
Requirements
CriteriaElectronic registered delivery service between state entities, citizens and private sector entities is regulated. The service provides legally binding data exchange and guarantees the confidentiality and integrity of information.
Accepted referencesLegal act
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7.7. Competent supervisory authority 333
Requirements
CriteriaThere is an authority responsible for the supervision of qualified trust service providers.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
16° Organe de contrôle : l'organe visé à l'article 17, paragraphe 1, du règlement 910/2014, créé au sein du Service public fédéral Economie, PME, Classes moyennes et Energie, composé des agents visés à l'article XV.2 et chargé des tâches de contrôle des prestataires établis en Belgique de services de confiance, y compris de services d'archivage électronique;
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8. Protection of personal data 4/4 100%44 100%
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8.1. Personal data protection legislation 111
Requirements
CriteriaThere is a legal act for personal data protection.
Accepted referencesLegal act
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8.2. Personal data protection authority 333
Requirements
CriteriaThere is an independent public supervisory authority that is responsible for personal data protection.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
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INCIDENT AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT INDICATORS
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9. Cyber incidents response 6/6 100%66 100%
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9.1. Cyber incidents response unit 333
Requirements
CriteriaThe government has a unit (CSIRT, CERT, CIRT, etc.) that is specialised in national-level cyber incident detection and response.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
The federal Computer Emergency Response Team, in short CERT.be, is the operational service of the Centre for Cyber Security Belgium (CCB). The task of CERT.be is to detect, observe and analyse online security problems and to provide continuous information about these problems.
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9.2. Reporting responsibility 111
Requirements
CriteriaDigital service providers and operators of essential services have an obligation to notify appointed government authorities of cyber security incidents.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/2019/04/07/2019011507/justel#LNK0009
Art. 35. § Digital service providers shall immediately report any incident that has a significant impact on the provision of a service provided by them in the European Union as referred to in Annex II.
Incidents shall be reported simultaneously to the national CSIRT, the sectoral government or its sectoral CSIRT, and the authority referred to in Article 7(4) via the reporting platform referred to in Article 31 -
9.3. Single point of contact for international coordination 222
Requirements
CriteriaThe government has designated a single point of contact for international cyber security coordination.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
https://ccb.belgium.be/en/collaboration
At a European level
The Belgian NIS Act of 7 April 2019 designated the CCB as the Single Point of Contact for cybersecurity under the European NIS Directive. In this capacity, it represents Belgium in the NIS Cooperation Group and in its various sub-working groups.
Pending the formal establishment of a National Cybersecurity Certification Authority, the CCB, together with other relevant government departments, represents Belgium in the European Cybersecurity Certification Group (ECCG), established under the EU Cybersecurity Act, and in ENISA's ad hoc working groups in which new certification schemes are prepared ().
The CCB’s Director is a member of the management board of ENISA, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity ().
The CCB acts as an expert in support of Belgium’s Permanent Representation in the Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues (HWP-CI) within the Council of the European Union, or in other relevant EU forums.
The CCB is a member of the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), the European Commission’s private counterpart in the implementation of the contractual public-private partnership (cPPP) on cyber security.
On an international level
The CCB is Belgium’s operational Point of Contact for the Informal Working Group on Cyberspace within the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In this working group, participating states work together to develop Confidence Building Measures.
The CCB represents Belgium as a member of the Global Forum for Cyber Expertise (GFCE), a worldwide platform for countries, international organisations and private companies to exchange best practices and expertise in cyber capacity building.
If requested, the CCB provides expertise to Belgium’s representations to NATO and the United Nations in the area of cyber security.
Where appropriate, the CCB also participates in the relevant cyber security debates within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
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10. Cyber crisis management 2/5 40%25 40%
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10.1. Cyber crisis management plan 111
Requirements
CriteriaThe government has established a crisis management plan for large-scale cyber incidents.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
https://ccb.belgium.be/en/critical-infrastructure
The cyber emergency plan is a guideline for cyber incidents and crises. It describes the tasks of the various services within their legal and regulatory powers.
CERT.be fulfils various functions within the cyber emergency plan:
- After receiving an incident report, CERT.be conducts an expert evaluation and determines the seriousness of the incident.
- In a national cyber security incident, CERT.be plays a coordinating role and informs the operators of critical infrastructure or other entities. CERT.be records the incident, concludes the recording and then makes a report about it.
- A national cyber security crisis is handled by CERT.be under the coordination of the National Crisis Center (NCCN) and the CCB.
- To prepare itself for potential cyber incidents and crises, CERT.be regularly takes part in national and international cyber exercises.
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10.2. National-level cyber crisis management exercise 002
Requirements
CriteriaThe government has conducted a national-level cyber crisis management exercise or a crisis management exercise with a cyber component in the last 3 years.
Accepted referencesExercise document/website or press release
Evidence
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10.3. Participation in international cyber crisis exercises 111
Requirements
CriteriaThe country's team has participated in an international cyber crisis management exercise in the last 3 years.
Accepted referencesExercise document/website or press release
Evidence
https://ccb.belgium.be/en/collaboration
The CCB also participates in international exercises, such as Cyber Europe, which is organised every two years by ENISA.
https://ccb.belgium.be/en/collaboration
The CCB also participates in international exercises, such as Cyber Europe, which is organised every two years by ENISA.
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10.4. Operational support of volunteers in cyber crises 001
Requirements
CriteriaThe procedures for using volunteers in the field of cyber security are established by legislation.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
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11. Fight against cybercrime 9/9 100%99 100%
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11.1. Cybercrimes are criminalised 111
Requirements
CriteriaCybercrimes are defined by legislation.
Accepted referencesLegal act
Evidence
http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=262695
Covers computer forgery, computer fraud, hacking and sabotage (see Art 550b of the Criminal Code)
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11.2. Cybercrime unit 333
Requirements
CriteriaThere is a government entity with a specific function of combatting cybercrime.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
https://www.politie.be/5998/nl/over-ons/centrale-directies/federal-computer-crime-unit
Federal Computer Crime Unit
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11.3. Digital forensics unit 333
Requirements
CriteriaThere is a government entity with a specific function of digital forensics.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
https://nicc.fgov.be/digitale-informatie
https://www.police.be/5998/nl/over-ons/centrale-directies/federal-computer-crime-unit
Reference to regional computer crime units who are resopnsible for digital forensics
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11.4. 24/7 contact point for international cybercrime 222
Requirements
CriteriaThe government has designated an international 24/7 contact point for cybercrimes.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
Federal Computer/Cyber Crime Unit
https://www.politie.be/nl/e-loket
The federal cyber crime unit can be reached via the 24/7 number or online service of the lokal police.
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12. Military cyber operations 6/6 100%66 100%
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12.1. Cyber operations unit 333
Requirements
CriteriaMilitary forces have a unit (cyber command, etc.) that is specialised in planning and conducting cyber operations.
Accepted referencesOfficial website or legal act
Evidence
Official website of the military forces that are specialised in planning and conducting cyber operations.
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12.2. Cyber operations exercise 222
Requirements
CriteriaMilitary forces have conducted a cyber operations exercise or an exercise with a cyber operations component in the country in the last 3 years.
Accepted referencesExercise document/website or press release
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12.3. Participation in international cyber exercises 111
Requirements
CriteriaThe country's military team has participated in an international cyber operations exercise in the last 3 years.
Accepted referencesExercise document/website or press release
Evidence
Cyber defence exercise brings together military CERTs
Over the past two days, EDA has organised the first ever live-fire cyber exercise specifically dedicated to improving European cooperation between Member States’ national Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs). The exercise gathered more than 200 experts from 17 EDA Member States and Switzerland, all of them connecting remotely from their working locations. The event marked the first practical part of the EU MilCERT Interoperability Conference 2021 (MIC), the second part of which will take place in June in Lille/France where the lessons learnt from the exercise and more strategic topics will be discussed.
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CONTRIBUTORS
Centre for Cyber Security Belgium