EU creates "rapid reaction forces" for cyber war
According to the materials available to Politico, the need for such a decisive step is due to the fact that, as they say in Europe, the "wave of daring cyberattacks" not only "caused chaos on the continent", but also gave rise to real fears that "Europe today he cannot protect himself or his trade secrets from enemies. "
According to the experts who worked on the preparation of the plan, modern hackers are becoming more sophisticated and professional in their actions, therefore, it is not possible to resist them alone, only by the forces of their own structures of the appropriate profile, even for the most developed countries of the European Union. The creation of a "Joint Cyber Rapid Response Team" is necessary precisely to provide operational assistance to countries, government agencies and companies that have been attacked in its process, and not after the fact. In fact, we are talking about creating a structure for cyber warfare.
According to available information, the presence of such a unit in the EU will allow all member states to seek timely support in the event of threats emanating from cyberspace. Also, in parallel, a number of long-term programs will be launched, the purpose of which will be to strengthen the information security of the European Union as a whole and all its members at various levels. In particular, monitoring activities are planned to prepare regular reports on current cyber threats and ways to eliminate them.
Also, the European Commission intends to create a "special platform" for combating cybercrime, which will be used not only by the military and police, but also by private companies involved in cybersecurity. It will serve "to coordinate response and exchange resources." Among them, in particular, it is planned to prepare and test plans for responding to crises, as well as the conclusion of appropriate agreements on the exchange of information between the authorities and representatives of commercial structures representing the cybersecurity sphere.
It should be noted that plans to create a pan-European "cyber special forces" have been hatched for a long time and, in accordance with previously announced intentions, should have been implemented in 2019. However, as noted by representatives of the European Commission, it took much more time to finalize all the details of this project than it was initially seen. Also, the main "stumbling block" in this matter was the lack of competencies in the EU's governing structures in the field of national security of its individual members and the categorical unwillingness of these very members to compromise their own independence.
Cyberattacks have become a sobering “cold shower” for the hesitant and doubtful, which hit both the general institutions of the EU and the national structures of a number of its members. In particular, the European Medicines Agency was hacked by hackers, several government officials were attacked, including the Belgian Interior Minister and a dozen Polish politicians, hospitals in Ireland and France were attacked using ransomware. In the end, cybercriminals, who lost all fear, managed to force European governments to unite.
Nevertheless, the current plan of the European Commission is officially only a "recommendation" for them, which can be accepted or rejected. In accordance with it, the management of the Joint Cyber Unit will be entrusted to the European Union Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA), whose office is likely to be located in Brussels.
Recall that some EU countries have already established joint cyber response groups within the framework of the cooperation in the field of defense. In turn, national cybercrime police authorities interact with their investigations through the European Cybercrime Center.
And, nevertheless, as the experts of the European Commission state, most of the countries of the Old World continue to fight threats and challenges in cyberspace on their own, due to their very different capabilities. The Commission hopes that the Joint Cyber Unit will be fully operational by the end of 2022, and from the first half of 2023, according to its plan, this unit will be able to conduct full-fledged "combat operations".
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