EC Calls for Preventive Action to Thwart Cyber Attacks
April 27, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
In advance of the European Union (EU) Ministerial Conference on Critical Information Infrastructure Protection, which is taking place April 27-28 in Tallinn, Estonia, Viviane Reding, European Commission (EC) commissioner for information society and media, called on EU member states to act to ensure that Europe's electronic communication networks are well-protected.
Reding noted in a video posted on her web site on April 27 that European critical information infrastructures are under constant threat of technical breakdowns and cyber attacks, a serious problem since they are the backbone of several other crucial services - such as energy transmission, water distribution, banking, and air and road traffic control.
"The reality of cyber attacks is nowadays quite far from being a game or a proof of intelligence and curiosity," said Reding. "Cyber attacks have become a tool in the hands of organised crime, a means of blackmailing companies and organisations, of exploiting the weakness of people, but also an instrument of foreign and military policy, and globally a challenge to democracy and economy."
"A one month-long internet interruption in Europe or the US would mean economic losses of at least 150 billion euro," she added.
Currently, there are wide differences in the approaches and capacities of the various member states to respond to a potential network breakdown, Reding noted.
Reding warned, "So far, the EU's 27 member states have been quite negligent. Although the EU has created the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), this instrument remains mainly limited to being a platform to exchange information and is not, in the short term, going to become the European headquarters of defense against cyber attacks."
Essential services that underpin the functioning of the European economy and daily life depend on the smooth work of communication networks. With recent examples of cyber attacks on Estonia, Lithuania and Georgia, and a 10% to 20% probability that information networks will be hit by a major breakdown in the next 10 years, the protection of Europe's networks is of highest priority.
In her video message, Reding called for swift action to ensure that the EU is protected by a strong and effective cyber security strategy.
"I believe Europe must do more for the security of its communication networks. Europe needs a 'Mister Cyber Security' as we have a 'Mister Foreign Affairs', a security tsar with authority to act immediately if a cyber attack is underway, a Cyber Cop in charge of the coordination of our forces and of developing tactical plans to improve our level of resilience. I will keep fighting for this function to be established as soon as possible."
Representatives of the EU member states, the EC and experts are meeting at the April 27-28 conference to discuss the strategy recently proposed by the EC for protecting Europe from cyber attacks and disruptions.
Background
In March, the EC called on public administrations, businesses and citizens to act to improve the security and resilience of Europe's critical information infrastructures (see IP/09/494 and MEMO/09/141).
The EC urged both public and private sector actors to ensure that necessary levels of preventive, detection, emergency and recovery measures are in place in all member states.
The EC will foster close cooperation among all stakeholders through a "European Public-Private Partnership for Resilience," by supporting the development of a European information sharing and alert system, as well as regular exercises for large-scale network security incident response.
For more information, see Reding's April 27 video message on cyber security and the web site for the EU Ministerial Conference on Critical Information Infrastructure Protection.
Source: European Commission (EC).