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Chapter VI — Information sharing

Article 29 — Cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements

  1. Member States shall ensure that entities falling within the scope of this Directive and, where relevant, other entities not falling within the scope of this Directive are able to exchange on a voluntary basis relevant cybersecurity information among themselves, including information relating to cyber threats, near misses, vulnerabilities, techniques and procedures, indicators of compromise, adversarial tactics, threat-actor-specific information, cybersecurity alerts and recommendations regarding configuration of cybersecurity tools to detect cyberattacks, where such information sharing:

    (a) aims to prevent, detect, respond to or recover from incidents or to mitigate their impact;

    (b) enhances the level of cybersecurity, in particular through raising awareness in relation to cyber threats, limiting or impeding the ability of such threats to spread, supporting a range of defensive capabilities, vulnerability remediation and disclosure, threat detection, containment and prevention techniques, mitigation strategies, or response and recovery stages or promoting collaborative cyber threat research between public and private entities.

  2. Member States shall ensure that the exchange of information takes place within communities of essential and important entities, and where relevant, their suppliers or service providers. Such exchange shall be implemented through cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements in respect of the potentially sensitive nature of the information shared.

  3. Member States shall facilitate the establishment of cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article. Such arrangements may specify operational elements, including the use of dedicated ICT platforms and automation tools, content and conditions of the information-sharing arrangements. In laying down the details of the involvement of public authorities in such arrangements, Member States may impose conditions on the information made available by the competent authorities or the CSIRTs. Member States shall offer assistance for the application of such arrangements in accordance with their policies referred to in Article 7(2), point (h).

  4. Member States shall ensure that essential and important entities notify the competent authorities of their participation in the cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements referred to in paragraph 2, upon entering into such arrangements, or, as applicable, of their withdrawal from such arrangements, once the withdrawal takes effect.

  5. ENISA shall provide assistance for the establishment of cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements referred to in paragraph 2 by exchanging best practices and providing guidance.

Article 30 — Voluntary notification of relevant information

  1. Member States shall ensure that, in addition to the notification obligation provided for in Article 23, notifications can be submitted to the CSIRTs or, where applicable, the competent authorities, on a voluntary basis, by:

    (a) essential and important entities with regard to incidents, cyber threats and near misses;

    (b) entities other than those referred to in point (a), regardless of whether they fall within the scope of this Directive, with regard to significant incidents, cyber threats and near misses.

  2. Member States shall process the notifications referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23. Member States may prioritise the processing of mandatory notifications over voluntary notifications.

    Where necessary, the CSIRTs and, where applicable, the competent authorities shall provide the single points of contact with the information about notifications received pursuant to this Article, while ensuring the confidentiality and appropriate protection of the information provided by the notifying entity. Without prejudice to the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences, voluntary reporting shall not result in the imposition of any additional obligations upon the notifying entity to which it would not have been subject had it not submitted the notification.