From: New Europe Online

By Karafillis Giannoulis

On 24 January, European Commissioner responsible for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes announced that the new EU Cybersecurity strategy will focus “on the need to improve the overall resilience of network and information systems.”

In her speech at a Panel on Building Cyber Resilience, during the World Economic Forum, Kroes also stated that the EU Cybersecurity strategy will also aim to stimulate “the competitiveness of the ICT industry as well as user demand for security functionalities in ICT products and services.”

The EU strategy will be complemented by actions aiming to enhance the fight against cybercrime, by initiatives aiming at strengthening the external EU cyber security policy and exploring new ways of cooperation between the civilian and the military dimension.

The strategy will be presented in the coming days by Commissioner Kroes together with the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. The EU Cybersecurity strategy will be accompanied by a proposal for a Directive on Network and Information Security (NIS) across the EU region. The draft Directive will require from Member States to be appropriately equipped for being able to ensure the smooth functioning of the EU networks. Moreover, Member States’ NIS competent authorities would also be required to cooperate with each other at the European level. According to the Commissioner, the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) will be the institution responsible to support this process by providing advice and technical know-how.

In addition, Mrs Kroes stated that the Commission will propose to extend the obligations to adopt NIS risk management measures and to report significant incidents, which affects the vital sectors of national economies (energy, transport, banking, healthcare, key Internet companies,) to the appropriate authorities. EU Cybersecurity strategy will also include actions aiming to foster the integrated market for secure ICT solutions and R&D investments.

Kroes concluded saying, “i have become convinced that the matter of cybersecurity is too important to be left to the goodwill of companies.”