As threats to critical infrastructure grow, resilience is more essential than ever. The European Union’s Critical Entities Resilience (CER) Directive aims to protect vital sectors like energy, transport, healthcare, and digital infrastructure from disruptions. By addressing vulnerabilities, the directive ensures essential services stay operational against physical and digital threats. This blog explores the importance of these regulations, their scope, and the measures safeguarding essential services across Europe.

What is the Critical Entities Resilience Directive?

The Critical Entities Resilience (CER) Directive is a comprehensive policy developed to address the growing complexity and interdependence of critical infrastructures across the EU. Enacted on January 16, 2023, the directive builds on a broader initiative introduced by the European Commission in 2020. Its primary aim is to strengthen resilience to threats—both physical and digital—by establishing clear compliance requirements for the Member States and organizations operating within these critical sectors.

This directive works in tandem with other key EU policies, such as the NIS 2 Directive, which focuses on cybersecurity for network and information systems. Together, the CER Directive and NIS 2 form a robust framework to better protect essential societal functions. Additionally, they are part of a larger EU policy landscape that includes initiatives like the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), all aimed at bolstering the EU’s collective defense against modern threats.

As Margaritis Schinas, former Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, highlighted during the directive’s introduction: these new regulations establish “a strong framework to build up our collective protection against all threats.” The CER Directive is not just about responding to immediate risks; it also emphasizes long-term preparedness through the creation of durable and adaptable critical infrastructure systems.

The aim and scope of the CER Directive

The CER Directive aims to safeguard the continuous delivery of essential services that underpin societal well-being and economic stability. It focuses on a broad spectrum of sectors classified as “critical entities,” whose disruptions could have far-reaching impacts on public safety, economic performance, and the daily lives of EU citizens.

One of the directive’s key components is its emphasis on proactive measures. Organizations operating within critical sectors are required to conduct in-depth risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities and potential threats. Once risks are identified, these organizations must adopt robust resilience strategies tailored to their specific operational needs. This includes physical security measures, but also advanced digital protections to safeguard systems from cyberattacks. Additionally, entities under the directive must promptly report incidents to ensure that effective responses can be coordinated at the national and EU levels.

Ylva Johansson, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, emphasized the need for collective action during the directive’s launch, stating: “We face increasing hybrid attacks and the growing impact of climate change. Building preparedness and resilience requires unified action.” Her remarks reflect the growing understanding that modern threats are multi-faceted, encompassing not only cyberattacks and terrorism, but also emerging challenges such as climate-related disruptions and supply chain vulnerabilities. The directive aims to create a culture of resilience, where preparedness becomes a shared responsibility across governments, organizations, and industries.

Key measures and implementation

The CER Directive establishes several concrete measures to strengthen critical infrastructure. These include mandatory risk assessments, comprehensive resilience testing, and the development of emergency response plans. Furthermore, the directive requires Member States to designate national authorities responsible for overseeing compliance and facilitating cross-border collaboration. This ensures that critical entities across Europe are not working in isolation, but part of a coordinated effort to enhance resilience.

In addition, the directive introduces stricter reporting requirements, ensuring that incidents are swiftly communicated to relevant authorities to enable a timely and effective response. This approach not only minimizes the impact of disruptions, but also provides valuable insights into the evolving threat landscape, helping refine and improve resilience strategies over time.

Why the CER Directive matters

By implementing the CER Directive, the European Union is taking significant steps to safeguard critical services and enhance its collective capacity to respond to evolving risks. The directive acknowledges the interconnected nature of modern infrastructure, where disruptions in one sector can have cascading effects on others. For example, a cyberattack on a power grid could simultaneously impact healthcare facilities, transportation networks, and banking systems. The CER Directive’s holistic approach ensures that these interdependencies are accounted for, reducing the likelihood of widespread disruptions.

In conclusion, the CER Directive represents a vital step forward in protecting Europe’s critical infrastructure from an increasingly complex threat environment. By fostering collaboration, promoting proactive risk management, and mandating resilience strategies, the directive ensures essential services remain operational in the face of adversity. As threats continue to evolve, the CER Directive serves as a cornerstone of the EU’s broader efforts to create a safer, more resilient future for all its citizens.

How Everbridge supports resilience in critical enterprises

Everbridge provides a comprehensive suite of critical event management solutions designed to strengthen operational resilience and overall resilience strategies in line with the CER Directive’s objectives.

Enhancing physical security and infrastructure protection

Everbridge smart security solutions offer a complete view of physical locations and assets, enabling organizations to respond swiftly to potential threats. By reducing training and security costs, these solutions ensure that critical entities can maintain service provision even during incidents.

Personnel security management and business continuity

Everbridge prioritizes the safety and well-being of individuals within an organization. With our Everbridge 360 solutions, we enable seamless communication and access to emergency services, ensuring workforce productivity stays uninterrupted even during disruptions.

In addition, Everbridge business continuity plans empower organizations to anticipate and mitigate the impact of disruptions. By activating automated incident response workflows, companies can seamlessly maintain operations.

Digital resilience and IT service management

Everbridge also supports digital resilience by minimizing IT service disruptions and reducing unplanned workloads. Our digital operations solutions monitor system performance and automate IT workflows, allowing teams to work efficiently and confidently.

Key takeaways from the CER Directive and the role Everbridge can play

The CER Directive represents a significant step forward in strengthening the resilience of critical entities across Europe. By mandating comprehensive risk assessments and resilience measures, it provides a solid framework for protecting essential services from both natural and man-made threats.

Everbridge plays a crucial role in this ecosystem by offering advanced solutions that enhance operational resilience. From physical security management to digital resilience, Everbridge empowers organizations to protect their people, assets, and operations.

For emergency managers, business continuity planners, and chief security officers, understanding the CER Directive and leveraging Everbridge solutions can significantly enhance their organization’s ability to withstand and recover from disruptions.

In a world where threats to critical infrastructure are becoming increasingly complex, the CER Directive and Everbridge solutions offer a path to enhanced resilience. By aligning with these frameworks, organizations can safeguard essential services and ensure their continued operation.

Our comprehensive risk management services are designed to enable businesses to operate safe in the knowledge that everything possible is being done to ensure their people and other assets are protected. We combine deep security expertise with innovative technology to help you deliver the policies, training, protection and responses needed – no matter what.

Everbridge provides customers with a complete solution that digitizes organizational resilience. As a leader in the field, Everbridge offers a suite of powerful tools to help financial organizations know earlier, respond faster, and improve continuously.

IT incidents can bring businesses to a standstill, impacting productivity, revenue, and reputation. To navigate these challenges, organizations must implement robust IT incident management strategies. This blog offers a comprehensive guide on best practices, communication readiness, and the critical role of technology in incident management. 

Understanding the impact of IT incidents 

Every day, operational issues such as IT outages and data breaches disrupt business operations. These incidents not only lead to production slowdowns and delayed responses to time-sensitive issues but also require diligent tracking to comply with industry regulations. The true cost of these incidents extends beyond immediate financial losses, affecting customer trust and employee productivity. A well-structured incident management plan is essential to mitigate these impacts effectively. 

IT incident management best practices

• Efficient workflows and integration: inefficient workflows across disparate systems slow down incident response. Integrating monitoring and ITSM platforms with communication solutions ensures seamless information flow, enabling faster response times and reducing Mean Time to Repair (MTTR). 
• Proactive communication: limiting communication to email and SMS can result in missed alerts. Utilizing a robust communication platform that supports various channels and integrates with on-call schedules helps ensure timely and accurate information reaches the right teams and stakeholders. 
• Comprehensive incident management plan: a total incident management plan encompasses preparation, assessment, response, and delivery. Organizations must have clear procedures for communicating with clients, employees, and stakeholders before, during, and after an incident. 
• Regular assessment and preparedness: regularly assess communication plans and incident procedures to ensure readiness. This includes having contact methods in place to reach key stakeholders quickly and establishing mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of communication processes post-incident. 

The role of technology in enhancing incident management 

Technology plays a pivotal role in streamlining incident management. Everbridge’s solutions automate communication and ensure consistent, error-free messaging across incidents. By leveraging technology, organizations can enhance situational awareness, facilitate faster collaboration, and ultimately achieve quicker resolution of incidents. 

Future-proof your organization 

IT vulnerabilities are ever-increasing and mastering IT incident management is not just advantageous but necessary. By implementing the best practices outlined above and harnessing the power of technology, organizations can better prepare for, manage, and recover from IT incidents. To explore how Everbridge can support your organization’s incident management efforts schedule a demo or watch our webinar on cybersecurity preparedness and protection. 

Cyber breaches are a constantly evolving combination of threats and security concerns that can put organizations in turmoil. They require not only technical expertise but also strategic stakeholder management. From high-profile breaches like Sony’s network compromise to the ransomware attack on a hospital demanding $1.5 million, organizations face an ever-increasing threat landscape. Understanding how to manage stakeholders during a cyber-attack and adopting evolving strategies for breach detection are crucial for maintaining resilience. 

The critical role of stakeholder management in cyber-attacks 

Effective management during a cyber-attack starts with a well-defined response plan. Recognizing potential threats and understanding their impact is foundational. From service disruptions to data breaches, such as TalkTalk’s customer data leak, the repercussions can be severe. It’s essential to have a plan that operates 24/7, as attacks often occur outside regular business hours. Key components include: 

• IT security and incident teams: these are the frontline defenders. Ensure you have a dedicated team ready to address breaches and coordinate responses. 
• Legal counsel: engage legal advisors to manage compliance and potential liabilities if sensitive data is compromised. 
• Stakeholders: identify and communicate with all relevant parties, such as marketing, customer service, and employees, to ensure consistent messaging and support during an incident. 

Developing a communications plan is also critical. Steps include triaging information to stakeholders, informing them through secure channels, managing ongoing updates, and regularly rehearsing these processes to ensure preparedness. 

Shifting strategies: from prevention to detection 

The landscape of cybersecurity risk management is evolving. While prevention remains a priority, the focus has increasingly shifted towards detection. This shift acknowledges the sophistication of modern threats and the inevitability of breaches. Key strategies include: 

• Automation: leveraging automated tools for monitoring and incident management can significantly enhance detection capabilities. Automation helps in quickly identifying threats and reduces the impact on operations. 
• Threat intelligence: organizations should utilize advanced threat intelligence to anticipate risks and integrate this data into automated systems for improved resilience. 
• Industry collaboration: joining industry groups and staying informed about local and global cybercrime trends can help organizations stay ahead of potential threats. 

Preparing for the future 

Embracing these strategies ensures organizations are better equipped to handle cyber threats. Begin by evaluating the automation tools necessary for your organization’s needs and considering the return on investment for implementing these technologies. 

For over two decades, Everbridge has been at the forefront of critical event management, helping businesses enhance their cybersecurity defenses. To understand more about achieving cyber resilience, watch our latest webinar on strengthening your cyber defenses: 

Cybersecurity in financial services presents unique challenges in strengthening resilience against potential threats. Financial institutions not only need to combat cyber threats such as web application attacks, bad bots, ransomware, and phishing attacks, but also maintain uptime before, during, and after such breaches to ensure seamless customer service and regulatory compliance. 

The cost of cybersecurity risks 

According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024, the global average cost of a data breach reached USD 4.88 million, a 10% increase from the previous year and the highest total ever recorded. A third of breaches involved shadow data, highlighting the difficulties in tracking and safeguarding proliferating data. Organizations using security AI and automation extensively in prevention reported average cost savings of USD 2.22 million compared to those that didn’t. Beyond these staggering statistics, financial institutions face even greater fears in lost business costs, including increased customer turnover, lost revenue due to downtime, and the rising cost of acquiring new business due to diminished reputation. 

Regulatory landscape 

The FFIEC (Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council) has strengthened its mandates for operational resilience, business continuity, and crisis management within the financial sector. This increase in regulation and compliance expectations underscores the necessity of automation across operational risk areas to achieve efficiency in processes, knowledge, and impact assessment. Regulators focus on the impacts of operational outages and their industry-wide effects, requiring detailed tracking, audit logs, and evidence of executive oversight. 

The importance of cyber resilience 

For financial services to succeed amidst heightened regulatory requirements and complex digital threats, cyber resilience extends beyond simply remediating attacks. It involves maintaining a reputable and trustworthy brand and product for customers. Organizations must prioritize building a resilient operation so that any disruption, whether from a cyberattack or other causes, has minimal impact on customer experience and avoids major non-compliance fines. Through digital transformation and a commitment to automation, financial institutions can build maximum operational resilience, enhance customer experience, and achieve positive returns on technology investment. 

The domino effect of disruptions 

Digital disruptions in large financial firms can have cascading negative impacts. Cybersecurity-related risks can lead to direct costs for affected banks and ripple effects on counterparties within the financial sector and the broader economy. Becoming cyber resilient means more than shielding against a single disruption; it requires active prevention against the negative domino effect such disruptions can trigger. With much of the financial sector’s success rooted in customer trust, falling victim to a chain of events that impact on the economy puts institutions at high risk of lost business. It truly pays to be prepared. 

Operational resilience through digital transformation 

Innovations in incident management, including greater automation, integration, data-level visibility, and user-friendly advances, support the infrastructure necessary for uninterrupted customer experiences. Everbridge critical event management can help financial services establish and maintain ‘Operational Resiliency ROI’ by minimizing business downtime and accelerating incident resolution through automated communications, collaboration, and orchestration. It streamlines incident response across IT Ops, Service Ops, Sec Ops, DevOps, and IT BC/DR, equipping employees with the information and resources needed to support digital transformation and deliver uninterrupted customer experiences. 

For more insights, watch our webinar on cybersecurity preparedness and protection. 

Cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and frequent, posing significant risks to business operations, financial stability, and reputational integrity. For modern organizations, cybersecurity preparedness is not just a strategic advantage, but a critical necessity. Everbridge, a leader in critical event management, offers a comprehensive approach to cyberattack prevention that transforms how businesses respond to and recover from cyber incidents. 

Understanding cybersecurity preparedness 

Cybersecurity preparedness refers to the proactive planning and implementation of measures to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents. It encompasses various activities such as risk assessment, vulnerability management, incident response planning, continuous monitoring, and fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness. In essence, it is about building resilience against cyber threats to ensure operational continuity and protect sensitive information. 

The importance of cybersecurity preparedness 

To downplay the importance of cybersecurity planning would mean to commit a fatal mistake. The ENISA Threat Landscape 2023 report highlights ransomware and DDoS attacks as predominant threats, with public administration being the most targeted sector, enduring nearly 19% of attacks. LockBit ransomware accounts for almost half of ransomware incidents, while phishing leads to a 10% rise in Business Email Compromise complaints, resulting in losses over $2.7 billion.  

DDoS attacks are widespread, affecting 13% of Cloudflare customers in 2022, and DNS request flooding increased by 93.4%. TCP-based attacks make up 63% of attack traffic. Alarmingly, 82% of data breaches involve human factors, stressing the need for enhanced security awareness. The IBM 2024 report notes that the average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million, the highest total ever, urging businesses to invest in cybersecurity frameworks and employee training.  

Real-world incidents happening all over the world underscore the severe implications of cyber threats, affecting numerous government agencies and businesses as reported by the Center for Strategic & International Studies. By investing in cybersecurity, organizations can mitigate risks and protect their assets. Implementing comprehensive security protocols and fostering a culture of cybersecurity security awareness are essential for long-term sustainability and business success in a digital world. 

Recommendations for enhancing cyber preparedness and resilience 

Conduct thorough risk assessments 

Identifying potential cyber threats and vulnerabilities within the organization is the first step toward building a robust cybersecurity strategy. Regular risk assessments help businesses understand their risk landscape and prioritize their cybersecurity efforts. 

Implement comprehensive incident response plans 

Developing comprehensive incident response plans that include automated workflows and clear communication protocols is essential for effective incident management. These plans should be regularly tested and updated to ensure they remain relevant and effective. 

Regular testing and updates 

Regularly testing and updating incident response plans through simulations and drills ensures that organizations are prepared for real-world incidents. These exercises help identify gaps in the plans and provide opportunities for continuous improvement. 

Continuous monitoring 

Utilizing advanced tools and threat intelligence for continuous monitoring of the cyber threat landscape is crucial for staying ahead of potential threats. Continuous monitoring allows businesses to detect and respond to threats in real-time, reducing the risk of successful attacks. 

Foster a culture of cybersecurity awareness 

Involving all stakeholders in fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness and preparedness across the organization is key to building resilience. Regular cybersecurity training and awareness programs help employees understand the importance of cybersecurity and their role in protecting the organization. 

Key features of Everbridge for cyber preparedness 

How do we support companies in delivering on those recommendations? Through the deployment of Everbridge 360. In particular, the Everbridge platform offers five key features to increase cybersecurity resilience and preparedness.  

1. Real-time risk monitoring

Everbridge offers real-time risk monitoring to help organizations stay ahead of potential threats. This feature allows businesses to continuously assess their cybersecurity planning and identify vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

2. Automated incident response workflows

Automated incident response workflows streamline the process of managing cyber incidents. By automating routine tasks, Everbridge reduces the time and effort required to respond to threats, enabling organizations to focus on more strategic activities.

3. Comprehensive communication tools

Effective communication is crucial during a cyber incident. Everbridge platform includes comprehensive communication tools that facilitate collaboration among different teams, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and that incident response efforts are coordinated.

4. Detailed reporting capabilities

Detailed reporting capabilities provide organizations with insights into their cybersecurity performance. By analyzing data from past incidents, businesses can identify areas for improvement and refine their cybersecurity strategies.

Seamless integration with existing cybersecurity tools

One of the standout features of Everbridge is its ability to seamlessly integrate with existing cybersecurity tools and frameworks. This includes network security, Security Information and Event Management — SIEM — systems, threat intelligence platforms, and other security infrastructures. By leveraging current investments in cybersecurity, Everbridge enhances cyber resilience and ensures a unified approach to threat detection and response.

A step toward cybersecurity preparedness

In an era where cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and frequent, cybersecurity preparedness is more important than ever. By investing in proactive planning, risk assessment, and continuous monitoring, organizations can build resilience against cyber incidents and ensure operational continuity. Everbridge comprehensive platform offers the tools and capabilities needed to enhance cyber preparedness and manage cyber incidents effectively.

Take the first step toward building a resilient future with Everbridge.

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