Essential Sites: What’s New
As part of the National Strategy for Digital Security (NSDS), the list of sites essential to the Nation is updated every 5 years. This list is intended to identify critical operators and infrastructure in the digital field.
The objectives of the NSDS concerning these essential sites are in particular:
- To strengthen their security and resilience in order to guarantee the continuity of essential services in the event of a major crisis or attack;
- To promote the use of the best security practices by these operators;
- To facilitate the coordination of responses between the authorities and the operators concerned;
- To contribute to the sharing of information on threats and their mitigation.
The update of the list is carried out by the General Secretariat for Defense and National Security (SGDSN), in conjunction with the ministries concerned (in particular the Ministry of the Economy and Finance).
The new list, which came into force on October 27, 2022, includes 210 sites, compared to 174 in 2018. These sites are divided into 7 sectors:
- Energy
- Transport
- Health
- Finance
- Telecommunications
- Water
- Food
The main changes compared to the previous list are as follows:
- The addition of 36 new sites, mainly in the sectors of energy, transport and telecommunications;
- The removal of 10 sites, mainly in the sectors of finance and telecommunications;
- The change of status of 18 sites, which have moved from one sector to another.
The list of essential sites is not public. However, operators identified as essential are informed of their status and are required to take appropriate security measures.
What are the obligations of essential sites?
Essential site operators are required to:
- Implement a security policy that meets the requirements of the NSDS;
- Carry out regular security audits;
- Report any security incidents to the authorities;
- Participate in exercises and training organized by the authorities.
The authorities can also impose additional security measures on essential site operators, if they deem it necessary.
What are the benefits of being an essential site?
Essential site operators benefit from:
- Support from the authorities in implementing security measures;
- Access to information on threats and their mitigation;
- Coordination of responses between the authorities and the operators concerned.
How to become an essential site?
Operators who believe they meet the criteria to be considered an essential site can apply to the SGDSN.
The application file must include:
- A description of the operator’s activities;
- A description of the operator’s security policy;
- A description of the operator’s security measures;
- A description of the operator’s incident response plan.
The SGDSN will review the application file and make a decision on whether or not to grant the operator essential site status.
Les sites essentiels : Nouveautés
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