DIGITAL SME, together with its partners, organised a hybrid event explaining the impacts of the new Cyber Resilience Act for SMEs in Europe. The event took place on Wednesday 15 February 2023.

The Cyber Resilience Act introduces a set of fundamental cybersecurity requirements for placing products with digital elements in the European Market. This regulation will cover the vast majority of connected devices (from your smart speaker to industrial firewalls) and will have a significant impact on both their manufacturers and users. 

This panel brought together different perspectives on a discussion on the impact of the Cyber Resilience Act on the European cybersecurity market, and in particular on SMEs. In addition, it highlighted the tools (such as the EU-funded project PUZZLE) that are being created at a European level to foster cybersecurity for SMEs. Given the strategic role of SMEs in the European economy, it is key to have a framework that allows them to become more cyber-aware and increase the level of assurance in the products that they develop and utilise. The discussion was aiming to understand how SMEs intend to ensure their compliance with the Cyber Resilience Act, giving insight into the needs and requirements that European SMEs will face when achieving compliance after the Act enters into force.

Maika Föhrenbach, Policy Officer, Cyber Security and Digital Privacy Policy Unit, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), European Commission, provided a keynote speech and addressed the participants on how the regulation aims to ensure the levelling up of European Cybersecurity.

After this introduction, the perspective of representatives from SMEs towards the Cyber Resilience Act were presented, and experts explained the key topics, challenges and opportunities for SMEs. Representatives from SMEs offered a hands-on experience with cybersecurity, discussing their perspectives on the possible effects of the Cyber Resilience Act on their business.

You can find here the recording of the event, together with the slides.