Athens, Greece– Greece is stepping up its cybersecurity game by aligning itself with new European Union directives aimed at tackling the rising wave of cyberattacks. This initiative impacts around 3,000 private and public entities throughout the country and mandates various cybersecurity measures, accompanied by heavy fines for those who fail to comply.
The new directives aren't just focused on government bodies; they extend to numerous sectors. Organizations ranging from regional and municipal authorities to businesses with 50 to 250 employees and annual gross revenues of up to €250 million are on the radar. Notably, firms involved in sectors deemed as 'critical'—like energy, healthcare, telecommunications, and food supplies—must also meet these rigorous standards.
The directive introduces several key elements:
- National Cyber Security Authority: This newly established authority will oversee the directive's implementation, ensuring organizations identify and rectify vulnerabilities.
- Mandatory Cybersecurity Measures: All covered entities will be required to adopt specific cybersecurity protocols to withstand and respond to potential cyber threats.
- Severe Monetary Penalties: Non-compliance can result in fines reaching up to €10 million or up to 2% of the organization’s worldwide annual turnover—whichever amount is greater.
The Greek Ministry of Digital Governance plans to present legislation integrating this EU directive at the national level. Experts see this as not just regulatory compliance, but as Greece's proactive step toward enhancing its cybersecurity framework and joining the EU’s broader campaign against cybercrime.
Meanwhile, across the waters, The University of Manchester is showcasing significant strides in higher education cybersecurity by adopting Tanium’s Converged Endpoint Management (XEM) platform. This platform has enabled the university to achieve complete visibility of around 40,000 endpoints, which is no small feat.
Why is this upgrade so important? Earlier last year, the university faced a severe data breach, prompting the IT department to take drastic actions, such as shutting down numerous services to mitigate the damage. By partnering with industry giants like Microsoft and ServiceNow, Manchester has successfully fortified its cybersecurity posture.
Patrick “PJ” Hemmaway, the university’s CIO, highlighted, "By combining the strengths of Tanium with ServiceNow and Microsoft, we now have a single, strategic platform allowing us to maintain accurate real-time data and enhanced threat detection capabilities.” This agility has positioned the University of Manchester as a cybersecurity leader within the UK.
Further solidifying its status, the institution received recognition for its efforts under the government's Cyber Essentials scheme—an initiative aimed at bolstering cybersecurity for organizations across the UK. It has also been lauded as an academic center of excellence for cybersecurity research by the UK National Cybersecurity Center.
According to Kirk Bellerby, Education Lead at Tanium, “Institutions like The University of Manchester must prepare for increasing cyber threats, which are becoming more frequent and complex.” He emphasizes the need for higher education sector entities to both measure and manage known vulnerabilities without compromising user experience for students and faculty members.
Moving forward, the University of Manchester has ambitious plans to extend its capabilities using the Tanium XEM platform. Future projects include using artificial intelligence to analyze legacy data more effectively and creating secure, easy flows of data sharing between researchers and colleagues across different institutions.
With this dual focus on regulation and cutting-edge technology, both Greece and educational institutions are steering toward enhanced cybersecurity landscapes, laying down foundations to combat the ever-evolving threats posed by cybercriminals.
