Skopje, 25 November 2024 (MIA) - Мonitoring and prevention systems will be an important segment of the national strategy and Law on Cybersecurity, Minister of Digital Transformation Stefan Andonovski said Monday ahead of the meeting of the workgroup drafting the country's first cybersecurity bill.

Minister Andonovski said the new Law on Cybersecurity would fully align with EU directives. The national cyber strategy, which is in a government procedure, was expected to be adopted by the end of the year, he said.

The workgroup formed to draft the country's first Law on Security of Information and Communication Technology Systems, known to the public as the Law on Cybersecurity, has started working on the bill.

Andonovski said a national cybersecurity law was long-overdue, considering all other regional and EU countries already had ICT legislation.

The workgroup includes representatives of the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Energy, and Ministry of Education and Science. It also includes representatives of the Energy Regulatory Commission, the National Bank, members of academia as well as experts from the US and the UK.

The minister of digital transformation said he hoped the bill would be drafted by January and put to a public debate.

He said the final draft should be put to a vote in Parliament by February and he hoped it would be unanimously adopted.

Asked about any recent cyberattacks, Andonovski said fake Health Insurance Fund messages were sent out to citizens on Facebook and other social media.

"This will continue to happen in the coming period. Every 11 seconds an institution or agency around the world is under some kind of a cyberattack. This will continue happening in the future. We are a geostrategic target for particular factors of influence. Private individuals and institutions that want to cause cyberattacks, will continue to do so in the future. It is vital that we have action protocols, that we recognize it as a problem, and that we are taking steps to solve this. These types of attacks will continue to prevail, no one can stop that," Andonovski said.

He said it was important to raise awareness that cyberattacks were likely to happen and they needed to be reported, and competent institutions  needed to take immediate action.

Asked what the goal of cyberattacks was, Andonovski said some cyberattacks were done for financial gain or aimed to access data.

"There shouldn't be any room for concern because this is all over the world. Institutions, however, must know how to react in such cases and citizens should be familiar with the circumstances, opportunities, and dangers on the Internet and how to deal with them," Andonovski said. ssh/mr