National Cyberstrategy (NCS)
Organisation and responsibilities at federal level
At federal level, there are three distinct domains of responsibility:
- Cybersecurity domain: all measures that serve to prevent and manage incidents and to
improve resilience against cyber-risks and that strengthen international cooperation for
this purpose.
- Cyberdefence domain: all intelligence and military measures designed to protect
systems critical to national defence, defend against cyberattacks, ensure the operational
readiness of the Armed Forces in all situations, and build capacities and capabilities to
provide subsidiary support to civilian authorities; they include active measures to detect
threats, to identify aggressors and to disrupt and prevent attacks.
- Cyberprosecution domain: all measures taken by the police and federal and cantonal
prosecutors to combat cybercrime.
The NCSC is responsible for the core tasks in the cybersecurity domain and for coordination
with all other federal units involved. On 2 December 2022, the Federal Council decided to
convert the NCSC into a federal office, with a remit exclusively covering civilian cybersecurity
and thus clearly differentiated from those of the Intelligence Service and the Armed Forces in
the domain of cyberdefence. Furthermore, the federal office will not take over any
supervisory or regulatory tasks from the specialist authorities in individual sectors, which
remain responsible for authorisation and ongoing operational supervision activities within the
industry and for licensed companies with regard to sector-specific cybersecurity
requirements. The NCSC works directly with the specialist authorities and provides them with
cybersecurity expertise.
The cyberprosecution domain is primarily the responsibility of the cantons. At Confederation
level, responsibility lies with the Federal Office of Police (fedpol) and the Office of the
Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG).
The organisations' legal foundations specify the powers of the competent bodies. Meanwhile,
the administrative units, within the framework laid down by law, work to optimise coordination
and exploit synergies among themselves through an ongoing sharing of information and
experience.
Organisation and responsibilities at cantonal level
The cantons define their cybersecurity organisation independently, in line with their needs.
They can be guided in this regard by the "Recommendation for the implementation of the
cantonal cyberorganisation", drawn up by the Swiss Security Network (SSN) and adopted by
the Conference of Cantonal Justice and Police Directors (CCJPD) in 2020. The
recommended organisational structure includes the appointment of a person responsible for
coordinating cybersecurity-related tasks (cybercoordinator) and a policy committee at
Cantonal Council level. These structures help to ensure that the cross-cutting nature of
cybersecurity is taken into account.
Overarching intercantonal coordination on cybersecurity issues takes place through the
CCJPD; however, this does not preclude other intergovernmental conferences from dealing
with cyber-related aspects within their areas of responsibility. Cooperation with the
Confederation is coordinated and promoted by the SSN.
Joint steering of the NCS by the Confederation, cantons,
business community and universities
The Federal Council appoints a committee to steer the implementation of the NCS by
coordinating the implementation work of all the actors involved and recording and assessing
their progress. The Steering Committee is made up of experts from the various areas of
cybersecurity and aims to integrate the interests of the cantons, business community,
society, universities and the Confederation.
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