Dora se tippermetti lill-banek u lill-istituzzjonijiet finanzjarji tal-UE joperaw b’sigurtà akbar – Alfred Sant

“B’Dora, iċ-ċansijiet li l-Bank of Valletta u banek oħra Ewropej jintlaqtu b’suċċess minn gruppi ċiberkriminali għandhom jonqsu. Huwa sodisfaċenti ħafna li se nkunu qed naslu għall-aħħar tas-sena hawn fil-Parlament Ewropew filwaqt li nwasslu wkoll lil Dora għat-tlestija” – Dr Alfred Sant.

Wara xhur ta’ diskussjonijiet ikkumplikati, il-kumitat ekonomiku u finanzjarju tal-Parlament Ewropew ECON laħaq qbil dwar abbozz parlamentari għal regolament Ewropew li jġib l-isem ta’ Dora. L-eks Prim Ministru u Kap tad-Delegazzjoni tal-Partit Laburista fil-Grupp Soċjalista u Demokratiku (S&D) tal-Parlament Ewropew Alfred Sant irrappreżenta lill-grupp tas-Soċjalisti u Demokratiċi fil-Parlament Ewropew, fin-negozjati dwar Dora.

Il-liġi se tapplika għall-banek, assigurazzjonijiet u istituzzjonijiet finanzjarji kollha fi ħdan l-Unjoni Ewropea u tressaq azzjoni ġdida u komprensiva li għandha tiġi adottata mill-banek u l-istituzzjonijiet finanzjarji Ewropej biex jipproteġu s-sistemi diġitali tagħhom inklużi l-kompjuters u l-mobiles minn attakki u maniġġi li jwasslu għal ħsarat u żbalji fis-sistemi elettroniċi li bihom imexxu x-xogħol tagħhom. Din il-liġi tkopri kwistjonijiet bħall-kontijiet u l-ħlasijiet ta’ individwi u intrapriżi, informazzjoni finanzjarja sensittiva u informazzjoni dwar deċiżjonijiet finanzjarji importanti. Fit-tħejjija tal-liġi, wieħed mill-każijiet li l-Kummissjoni Ewropea enfassizzat kien is-serq diġitali li ġarrab il-Bank of Valletta xi sentejn ilu b’telf ta’ miljuni ta’ ewro.

“Bħala liġi ġdida, Dora tistabbilixxi sett ta’ miżuri li jridu jiġu adottati minn dawk kollha involuti fil-ġbir u t-tħaddim tal-fondi madwar l-Ewropa kollha”, stqarr Sant. Qal li s’issa l-miżuri kollha tmexxew skont regoli nazzjonali u l-inkonsistenzi fost l-Istati Membri ħolqu aktar opportunitajiet biex jiġi żviluppat it-theddid ċibernetiku. Il-MPE Laburista spjega li se jkun stabbilit korp Ewropew ta’ sorveljanza biex jikkoordina l-proċeduri minn jum għal jum, filwaqt li l-Kummissjoni Ewropea se tkun f’pożizzjoni ta’ kmand ġenerali.

Fost il-kwistjonijiet li kellhom jiġu solvuti kien hemm jekk il-banek u l-assigurazzjonijiet żgħar hux se jkunu obbligati jaddotaw l-istess miżuri bħall-ażjendi l-kbar, anke meta dan jista’ jimponi piż pjuttost tqil fuq iż-żgħar. Ġie adottat l-hekk imsejjaħ approċċ proporzjonat biex jilqa’ għall-ħtiġijiet ta’ stabbilimenti akbar filwaqt li jippermetti li jiġu applikati miżuri inqas stretti, ikkalibrati għal dawk iżgħar.

Sant stqarr li għalkemm id-diskussjonijiet dwar Dora kienu twal u tekniċi, kellhom implikazzjonijiet politiċi sinifikanti.

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Dora will allow banks and financial EU institutions to operate with heightened security – Alfred Sant

“With Dora, the chances that Bank of Valletta and other European banks get hit successfully by cybercriminal gangs should decrease. It is very satisfactory that we shall be coming to the end of the year here at the European Parliament while also bringing Dora to completion” – Dr Alfred Sant.

After months of complicated discussions, the economic and financial committee of the European Parliament ECON reached an agreement on a parliamentary draft for a European regulation labelled as Dora. Former Prime Minister and Head of the Labour Party Delegation at the Socialist and Democratic Group (S&D) at the European Parliament Alfred Sant represented the group of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, taking part in the Dora negotiations. 

The law will apply to all banks, insurances and financial institutions within the European Union and puts forward a new and comprehensive course of action to be adopted by European banks and financial institutions to protect their digital systems including computers and mobiles from attacks and corrosive breakdowns. It covers such matters as the accounts and payments of individuals and enterprises, sensitive financial information and data regarding important financial decisions. In preparing the law, one of the cases highlighted by the European Commission was the digital robbery experienced by Bank of Valletta some two years ago during which it lost millions of euros.

“As a new law, Dora lays down a set of measures which must be adopted by all those involved in the collation and management of funds all over Europe”, Sant stated. He said that up to now all measures have been run under national rules and the inconsistencies among Member States created further openings for cyber threats to develop. The Labour MEP explained that a European oversight body will be established to coordinate procedures on a day to day basis, while the European Commission will be in overall command position. 

Among the issues that needed to be settled was whether both big and small banks and insurances would be obligated to adopt the same measures, even when this could impose quite a heavy burden on the smaller ones. A so-called proportionate approach was adopted to cater for the needs of bigger establishments while allowing less stringent measures to apply, calibrated for the smaller ones. 

Sant stated that although the discussions on Dora were long and technical, they carried significant political implications.