Digital security, understood as a set of systems, has two functions:

• counteracting criminal activities and vandalism targeting electronic communications networks,
• defense against sabotage and military attacks carried out by specialized services and military units.

In its current shape, the NIS Directive referred primarily to counteracting the development of crime in digital networks, while to a lesser extent it referred to threats created by organizations financed by states, focused on gathering intelligence as well as subversive and military activities.

However, history shows that it is very difficult to distinguish digital attacks carried out for profit from attacks with intelligence purposes. Moreover, some organizations have been the target of attacks aimed at steady and secret penetration of certain networks without revealing it. Increasingly, we are dealing with malware, the main feature of which is the ability to perform an attack after a very long time since its introduction to the network. Finally, we are dealing with information attacks carried out in the open public space of the Internet and social media, the goals and impact of which are very difficult to identify and thus very hard to counteract. Finally, it must be emphasized that the threats posed by the digital age are global in nature.

Thus, we need new norms and standards that will apply both globally and locally. We need standards that will become the basis for much closer cooperation between EU countries. The aim of the activities carried out should be to increase the level of security and reduce the unit costs of implementation.a

The aim of the panel is to describe the new reality and open a discussion on solutions that can be introduced quite quickly and those that require profound changes as well as modifications in production technologies and electronic communication infrastructure management systems.