The objective of the guidelines, published on Wednesday 25 July by the cooperation group established under the EU directive (2016/1148) on the security of network and information systems across the EU (NIS Directive) (see EUROPE 11347), is to better protect the European Union against cyberattacks in electoral periods.
"State-backed cyberattacks against our elections undermine our democracy: we need robust cyber defences of all election technology", European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip tweeted.
The guidelines are based on the experience and best practice identified by the cooperation group (which is composed of representatives from the member states, the Commission, and the EU Agency for Network and Information Security – ENISA).
"While the processes of elections themselves – the registering of voters and candidates, the gathering and counting of votes, and the communication of the election results – are by no means impervious to attack, recent events highlight the need to also defend the auxiliary systems – for example IT used by parties and candidates or those communicating the elections results, including the media", the guidelines state.
The observation is also made that the situations are very different from one member state to another and that the tools put forward must be chosen according to the needs.
The guidelines do not tackle social media, or information and disinformation operations, and they do not focus directly on distance/internet voting solutions.
For further information, see: https://bit.ly/2v5MUqm (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)