In a video message released yesterday, 27 April 2009, the European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, called on Member States to develop a strategy which ensures the protection of critical infrastructure information (CII) in the European Union (EU), considered fundamental to the Union's economy and the day-to-day life of its citizens.
Taking as an example the recent cyber-attacks on Estonia, Lithuania and Georgia and citing a probability of between 10 and 20 percent that a major breakdown in information networks will occur in the next 10 years, the protection of European networks has become a top priority. Viviane Reding claimed that "a one month-long internet interruption in Europe or the US would mean economic losses of at least 150 billion euro".
Although the EU has established the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), the Commissioner warned that "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 defence against cyber attacks". Therefore, a strong and effective strategy is required for cyber security which, in Viviane Reding's view, entails the appointment of a "Mister Cyber Security" as we have a "Mister Foreign Affairs" (such as the current EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana), "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", she concluded.
This message from Viviane Reding was released on the morning of the day that a Ministerial Conference on CII Protection began in Tallinn (Estonia), specifically to hold a discussion with Member States on the European Commission's recent proposals for EU network and information security policy. For two days, the conference, which ends today (April 28), will seek to address four key issues with respect to critical information infrastructure: "How to prepare?", "How to warn?", "How to defend?" and "How to cooperate globally?".
Further information:
- EU Commissioner Reding calls for preventive action to make the EU resilient against cyber attacks http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/199&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=nl
- EU Ministerial Conference on Critical Information Infrastructure Protection http://www.tallinnciip.eu/?id=main
