Sri Lanka Cabinet approves proposals for drafting cybersecurity bills News
Sri Lanka Cabinet approves proposals for drafting cybersecurity bills

The Sri Lanka Cabinet of Ministers has approved the drafting of two bills to promote cybersecurity as proposed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Technology.

The first of these, the Defense Cyber Commands Act, shall cover all sectors related to electronic communication to protect national security interests. Noting the direct impact e-communication has on national security since it is used in carrying out “terrorist activities, organized crimes, and anti-social activities,” the cabinet approved the bill’s drafting, which shall also deal with existing armed forces and police cyber protection units.

The second draft bill, unnamed as yet, will strengthen the institutional structure to deal with cyber protection with the establishment of the Sri Lanka Cyber Protection Agency. It will set up a regulatory framework to implement national initiatives, strategies and laws related to issues other than national defence. This includes protecting “decisive and essential information” within the country and preventing activities that pose cybersecurity risks.

These proposals come amidst investigations into a reported loss of two terabytes of classified information from Sri Lanka’s National Medicine Regulatory Authority (NMRA) database in August. Government officials clarified that the database breakdown posed no risk of drug shortages, price surges, or sale of lower quality drugs since it did not affect patents or licenses. However, the Government Medical Officers’ Association maintained that the database breakdown jeopardized national security.

A draft bill is scrutinized by a sectoral oversight committee of the parliament before voting. If passed, a bill requires the speaker’s endorsement to become a law.