National Cyber Security Strategy

The current National Cyber Security Strategy was published in December 2019, and follows on from the country’s first Strategy which was published in 2015. It is a broader and more comprehensive document than the last one, and takes advantage of the operational experience gained by the National Cyber Security Centre from 2015 to 2019, and from ongoing national and international engagements in the area.

The vision behind the 2019 Strategy is to allow Ireland to continue to safely enjoy the benefits of the digital revolution and to play a full part in shaping the future of the Internet. This vision will be achieved through:

The objectives of the Strategy are:

A Public Consultation process was undertaken in the first half of 2019 in order to inform the Strategy and ensure that awareness and best practice in cyber security and cyber hygiene were at the core of the Strategy formulation process. The public consultation process was designed to elicit the views of the general public and also the views of those with an interest in the subject, such as specialists in the field of Cyber Security.

The Public Consultation Document was published on the Department’s website and the consultation process concluded on 1st May 2019. The responses to the consultation process were analysed and collated and have informed the revised Strategy.

Junior Cycle Short Course

Measure 12 of the Strategy outlines that the ‘government will continue to ensure that second and third level training in computer science and cyber security is developed and deployed' and commits to supporting the development of a Junior Cycle short course in cyber security.

The Junior Cycle Short Course was developed by a working group comprised representatives from the Computers in Education Society of Ireland (CESI), the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Cyber Ireland, the National Cyber Security Centre and a project implementation team from University College Dublin.

The interim report ‘Developing a Junior Cycle Short Course in Cyber Security’ outlines the background to the development of the working group and the implementation team, resourcing to date, details of the short course development and associated activities, information about participating schools, the development of web-based resource materials https://cyberwise.ie and the key recommendations.

Cyber Security Education Report