France wants to develop a “world-class” cyber defense

On 9 November 2022, the government published the public version of the « National Strategic Review » 2022. It determines the main lines of France’s military action, and will feed the 2024-2030 military programming law, expected in early 2023.

On the same day in Toulon, French President Emmanuel Macron stated, while presenting the text, that France should have, within 5 years, « a world-class cyber defense« .

On the subject of cyber, the National Strategic Review 2022 calls for « appropriate and well-organized capabilities to prevent or, if necessary, reduce the impact and duration of cyberattacks against France, at least for the most critical operations ».

In order to do this, « in the event of a major crisis« , the State must be able to mobilize all public and private actors. The report welcomes the creation of the Cyber Campus and regional CSIRTs. However, it calls for investment to enhance the cybersecurity of public services. At the international level, it invites France to make proposals to « fight against the proliferation of cyber weapons« .

The National Strategic Review 2022 also calls for increased cyber vigilance on « supply chains, especially those of the State » and support for « robust and sovereign trust solutions« . Another priority is to increase awareness of cyber risk and the attractiveness of the industry’s professions, via « systematic » integration into educational curricula.

Finally, the report strongly emphasizes « influence« , particularly digital influence, which is emerging as a « new strategic function in its own right ». « We must know how to detect it, without delay, hinder it and, in turn, but in the manner of a democracy, anticipate it, using it to our advantage in the digital and physical fields« , said Emmanuel Macron.