Agreement on cybersecurity signed between the EU Commission and the industry
On Wednesday, the EU Commission announced the launch of a public-private partnership with the cybersecurity industry as part of its Digital Single Market strategy. This partnership aims at providing the industry with better equipment and infrastructure to reduce cybersecurity threats.
Recent surveys have revealed that around 80% of European companies have suffered at least one cybersecurity incident during 2015. Worldwide, the number of cybersecurity incidents increased up to 38%. Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, stated that “without trust and security, there can be no Digital Single Market”. Therefore several measures haven been proposed in order to tackle the increasingly sophisticated threats.
The initiative focuses on the following aspects:
- Reinforcement of cooperation across borders and between all sectors of the cybersecurity branch
- Support the development of innovative and secure products and services
- Creation of a possible certification framework for information and communications technology security products
- Ease access to the cybersecurity market for smaller business
- Assessment of the capabilities and mandate of European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) to achieve its mission to support EU Member States in reinforcing cyber-resilience
- Evaluation of methods to strengthen cybersecurity cooperation, trainings and education
Both, the EU and the cybersecurity industry actors, represented by the European Cybersecurity Organization (ECSO), will invest around €1.8 billion in this initiative. Members from national, regional and local public administration, as well as research centres and academies will also participate.
The main industry sectors to which this partnership is focused are finance, health, energy and transport.
The EU Digital Single Market strategy also includes the 2013 EU Cybersecurity strategy and the Network and Information Security Directive (NIS Directive), which is expected to be approved within the next weeks.
