TitleCyber Resilience Act – Proposal for a regulation on cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements
Proposed

The Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) is a cyber-security regulation for the EU proposed on 15 September 2022 by the European Commission for improving cybersecurity and cyber resilience in the EU through common cybersecurity standards for products with digital elements in the EU.[1][2] The draft legislation is available.[3][4]

Multiple open source organizations have criticized CRA for creating a "chilling effect on open source software development". Products with digital elements mainly refer to hardware and software, including products whose "intended and foreseeable use includes direct or indirect data connection to a device or network".[5]

Purposes and motivations

The background, purposes and motivations for the proposed policy include:[6]

  • Consumers increasingly become victims to security flaws of digital products (e.g. vulnerabilities), including of Internet of Things devices[5][7][8] or smart devices.[9][10]
  • Ensuring that digital products in the supply chain are secure is important for businesses,[5] and cybersecurity often is a "full company risk issue".[11]
  • Potential impacts of hacking include "severe disruption of economic and social activities across the internal market, undermining security or even becoming life-threatening".[12]
  • Cybersecurity-by-design and by-default principles would impose a duty of care for the lifecycle of products, instead of e.g. relying on consumers and volunteers to establish a basic level of security.[5][13] The new rules would "rebalance responsibility towards manufacturers".[12]
  • Cyberattacks have led "to an estimated global annual cost of cybercrime of €5.5 trillion by 2021".[1]
  • The rapid spread of digital technologies means rogue states or non-state groups could more easily disrupt critical infrastructures such as public administration and hospitals.[14]
  • The CRA could make the EU a leader on cybersecurity and "change the rules of the game globally". [13]

Implementation and mechanisms

Once the law has passed, manufacturers would "have a grace period of two years to adapt to the new requirements" and one year for "vulnerability and incident reporting". Failure to comply "could result in fines of up to $15 million (€15 million) or 2.5 percent of the offender's total worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year".[12][9][10] The policy requires that products' default settings should be that security updates are rolled out automatically by-default, while allowing users to opt out.[15] Companies need to conduct cyber risk assessments before a product is put on the market and throughout its lifecycle effectively manage its vulnerabilities, regularly test it, and so on.[16] Products assessed as 'critical' will need to undergo external audits.[15][13] Companies would have to notify EU cybersecurity agency ENISA of any incidents within 24 hours of becoming aware of them, and take measures to resolve them.[10] Products are categorized via two classes of risks.[17] Products carrying the CE certifications would meet a minimum level of cybersecurity checks.[7]

Euractiv has reported on novel drafts or draft-changes that includes changes like the "removal of time obligations for products' lifetime and limiting the scope of reporting to significant incidents".[18][15] The first compromise amendment will be discussed on 22 May 2023 until which groups reportedly could submit written comments. Euractiv has provided a summary overview of the proposed changes.[19]

The main political groups in the European Parliament are expected to agree on the Cyber Resilience Act at a meeting on July 5, 2023. Lawmakers will discuss open source considerations, support periods, reporting obligations, and the implementation timeline. The committee vote is scheduled for July 19th, 2023.[20][21]

The Spanish presidency of the EU Council has released a revised draft that simplifies the regulatory requirements for connected devices. It would reduce the number of product categories that must comply with specific regulations, mandate reporting of cybersecurity incidents to national CSIRTs, and include provisions for determining product lifetime and easing administrative burdens for small companies. The law also clarifies that spare parts with digital elements supplied by the original manufacturer are exempt from the new requirements.[22][23]

The Council text further stipulates that prior to seeking compulsory certification, the European Union executives must undertake an impact assessment to evaluate both the supply and demand aspects of the internal market, as well as the member states' capacity and preparedness for implementing the proposed schemes.[24][25]

European institutions have successfully concluded negotiations on the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), paving the way for its anticipated completion in early 2024. The finalized text, yet to be released, will be followed by a detailed summary, highlighting the EU's commitment to fortifying cybersecurity measures and ensuring a secure digital landscape.[23]

Criticism

  • Multiple open source organizations like The Eclipse Foundation and The Document Foundation have signed the open letter "Open Letter to the European Commission on the Cyber Resilience Act",[26] asking policy-makers to change the under-representation of the open source community. It finds that with the policy "more than 70% of the software in Europe [open source/FOSS] is about to be regulated without an in-depth consultation" and if implemented as written (as of April) would have a "chilling effect on open source software development as a global endeavour, with the net effect of undermining the EU's own expressed goals for innovation, digital sovereignty, and future prosperity".[27][28][26]
  • Although Mozilla "welcome[s] and support[s] the overarching goals of the CRA", it also criticised proposal for unclear text ‘commercial activity’, misalignment with other EU rules, and requirement of disclosure of the unmitigated vulnerabilities.[29]
  • The Apache Software Foundation also published a statement about the CRA on their blog titled "Save Open Source: The Impending Tragedy of the Cyber Resilience Act[30]".
  • A technology expert argued the CRA's "underlying assumption is that you can just add security to software" with "[m]any open source developers hav[ing] neither the revenue nor resources to secure their programs to a government standard".[28] Another tech journalist noted that "there's some problematic language with how the CRA draws a line between commercial and non-commercial [open source software] use, which could hurt the future of open source."[31] The OSI found that the text as of January 2023 would cause extensive problems for open source software, arising from "ambiguities in the wording and a framing which does not match the way Open Source communities actually function and their participants are motivated" and submitted information about such issues to the European Commission's request for input.[32]
  • CCIA Europe warned that "the resulting red tape from the approval process could hamper the roll-out of new technologies and services in Europe".[10]
  • Debian's statement[33] makes it clear that it is not only open source software that is at risk. They point out that many small businesses and solo developers will be put out of business by the Act.

The CRA makes no distinction between software that sells millions or tens of millions of copies each year, and software that sells tens or hundreds of copies, despite the risk of the former—based on sheer volume—being vastly greater than the latter. Nor does the CRA take any account of business size: a business with a solo developer must meet the same regulatory requirements as a business the size of Microsoft.

According to Debian's statement, the CRA “will force many small enterprises and most probably all self employed developers out of business”. This seems justified for three reasons:

  1. It is much harder for a small business to meet the requirements than a large business—and it may be impossible for older software in maintenance mode.
  2. The legal hazard is too high, since even if a small business tries to meet the requirements, mistakes or omissions could lead to ruinous fines.
  3. To avoid the risks and strictures of the CRA a small business would have to prevent sales (and reselling) into more than forty countries: all countries in the EEA (this includes all the EU countries), all EU candidate countries, plus other countries that harmonize their laws with the EU for access to the single market. For small businesses with already small sales volumes (e.g., for specialist software), even the US and rest of the world may be too small a market to make the business viable.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Cyber Resilience Act | Shaping Europe's digital future". digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "EU Cyber Resilience Act | Shaping Europe's digital future". digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  3. ↑ European Parliament (14 September 2022). Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of The Council on horizontal cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 — COM(2022) 454 final — 2022/0272 (COD). Strasbourg, France: European Parliament. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  4. ↑ European Parliament (15 September 2022). ANNEXES to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of The Council on horizontal cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 — COM(2022) 454. Strasbourg, France: European Parliament. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "EU cyber-resilience act | Think Tank | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  6. ↑ Car, Polona; De Luca, Stefano (May 2023). EU cyber-resilience act — Briefing EU Legislation in Progress — PE 739.259. Strasbourg, France: European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), European Parliament. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  7. 1 2 "EU pitches cyber law to fix patchy Internet of Things". POLITICO. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Commission presents Cyber Resilience Act targeting Internet of Things products". www.euractiv.com. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  9. 1 2 Lomas, Natasha (15 September 2022). "The EU unboxes its plan for smart device security". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Chee, Foo Yun (15 September 2022). "EU proposes rules targeting cybersecurity risks of smart devices". Reuters. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  11. ↑ Gross, Anna (9 November 2022). "Why a clear cyber policy is critical for companies". Financial Times. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 Dobberstein, Laura. "EU puts manufacturers on hook for smart device security". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 Starks, Tim (3 January 2023). "Analysis | Europe's cybersecurity dance card is full". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "EU chief announces cybersecurity law for connected devices". www.euractiv.com. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 "Swedish Council presidency presents first full rewrite of Cyber Resilience Act". www.euractiv.com. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  16. ↑ Security, Help Net (2 March 2023). "Cyber resilience in focus: EU act to set strict standards". Help Net Security. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  17. ↑ "Cyber-resilience Act signals big change in commercial software development". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  18. ↑ "Cyber Resilience Act: Leading MEP proposes flexible lifetime, narrower reporting". www.euractiv.com. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "EU lawmakers kick off cybersecurity law negotiations for connected devices". www.euractiv.com. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  20. ↑ "EU lawmakers set to close deal on cybersecurity law for connected devices". www.euractiv.com. 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  21. ↑ "Cyber Resilience Act - Current state of play". www.cyberresilienceact.eu. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  22. ↑ "EU Council cuts down special product categories in cybersecurity law". www.euractiv.com. 2023-07-10. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  23. 1 2 "Cyber Resilience Act - Read the current state of play". Cyber Resilience Act. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  24. ↑ "EU ambassadors set to endorse new cybersecurity law for connected devices". www.euractiv.com. 2023-07-17. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  25. ↑ "Cyber Resilience Act - Read the current state of play". Cyber Resilience Act. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  26. 1 2 "Open Letter to the European Commission on the Cyber Resilience Act". Eclipse News, Eclipse in the News, Eclipse Announcement. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  27. ↑ Sawers, Paul (18 April 2023). "In letter to EU, open source bodies say Cyber Resilience Act could have 'chilling effect' on software development". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  28. 1 2 Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. "EU attempts to secure software could hurt open source". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  29. ↑ Stampelos, Tasos (30 July 2023). "Mozilla weighs in on the EU Cyber Resilience Act". Open Policy & Advocacy. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  30. ↑ van Gulik, Dirk-Willem (2023-07-18). "Save Open Source: The Impending Tragedy of the Cyber Resilience Act". Blog of the Apache Software Foundation. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  31. ↑ "Europe's cyber security strategy must be clear about open source | Computer Weekly". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  32. ↑ Phipps, Simon (24 January 2023). "What is the Cyber Resilience Act and why it's dangerous for Open Source". Voices of Open Source. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  33. ↑ Statement about the EU Cyber Resilience Act
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