Dutch Government Unifies Three Cybersecurity Entities to Enhance National Digital Safety

In a robust effort to enhance national digital safety, the Netherlands is amalgamating three key cybersecurity organizations—NCSC, CSIRT-DSP, and DTC—into a unified cyber organization by 2025, aiming to fortify the nation against cyber threats through streamlined threat reporting and a coordinated response strategy. 

In a strategic move to bolster national digital safety, the Netherlands is integrating [3 OCT 2023] three pivotal cybersecurity organizations: the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), the Computer Security Incident Response Team for digital services (CSIRT-DSP), and the Digital Trust Center (DTC). These entities will converge into a single, unified national cyber organization by the end of 2025. The collaboration aims to streamline the reporting of threats and vulnerabilities, ensuring a more robust and coordinated response to cyber threats across the nation.

The triad of NCSC, CSIRT-DSP, and DTC will intensively collaborate to safeguard every organization in the Netherlands, spanning from public to private and small to large entities, against cyber threats. The ‘better view of the threat’ initiative is a cornerstone of the Dutch Cybersecurity Strategy, ensuring that all entities, whether victims or targets of cyber threats, are promptly warned and adequately informed. This cooperative approach aims to fortify the nation’s digital landscape against the ever-evolving spectrum of cyber threats.

A new one-stop shop for sharing information with the government is being established, housed at the NCSC, to prevent fragmentation in digital resilience efforts. Security researchers, ethical hackers, and both domestic and international partners can share information about cyber threats and incidents through this single point of contact. The NCSC will assess the quality of reports and activate the notification process across the three organizations, adhering to a transparent and unambiguous assessment framework, thereby ensuring that vital information reaches the necessary parties promptly and efficiently.

Moving forward, the three cyber organizations will also cooperate extensively in other areas, such as utilizing each other’s IT systems. Over the coming months, they will continue to develop an integrated, scalable, and robust warning service to support Dutch businesses in safeguarding their IT systems against cyber threats. The government, recognizing the imperative to keep organizations abreast of company-specific cyber threats, will proactively inform entities about potential threats, underscoring its commitment to national digital security.