WG CyS had its first regular meeting on 10 November 2021. ITS asked the WG CyS Chair Jerker Berglund several questions to see how it went.

Question: Hi Jerker, which organisations were participating in the meeting?

We had participants from different sectors. In addition to PTS we had 2 other authorities participating. One of the other authorities is working for increasing cyber security in society. The other is working on promoting Swedish industry and exports.

Furthermore we had representatives from suppliers of products and services in the ICT industry, from industrial companies that develop connected products and from mobile operators.

Question: Which hot topics did you discuss during the meeting?

James Christie from PTS informed about the work to get a certification framework for 5G network products in place under the cybersecurity act. Work on the certification framework is lead by ENISA and PTS is participating in several expert groups on EU-level.

The participants discussed how such a certification scheme can impact Swedish producers and operators. The meeting agreed with PTS view that the extent of the certification scheme must be in relation to the benefit for society. Exessive certification risks becoming counterproductive as it can delay upgrades that address vulnerabilities and add customer value.

PTS also informed the meeting about the European Commission’s request to standardise cybersecurity requirements for radio equipment that fall under the Radio Equipment Directive (RED). The new draft standardisation request is an example of the EU’s new way of working to use standardisation to put fine details to overall requirements in legislation.

Question: Why is PTS of the view that this forum is good for discussing these kind of issues?

International standardisation of cyber security in the field of electronic communications is a complex issue with a large number of standardisation organisations, industrial consortia and other organisations involved who collaborate at different levels and in different parts of the process.

For PTS as an individual authority with limited resources, it is not possible to follow all current issues and processes. For PTS and other Swedish interest groups to have the opportunity to influence the design of standards, we need an active collaboration and exchange of information with industrial companies that participate in various standardisation bodies, authorities with responsibility in the cyber security area and companies that depend on the standards produced.