Stepping up efforts in the fight against cyber crime, EU digital agenda lead, Neelie Kroes, warns that additional reporting could soon be in place for firms in the energy, transport, internet, banking and healthcare sectors. Launching the EU's Cybersecurity Strategy at a press conference in Brussels today, Kroes spoke of cyber incidents that disrupt millions and undermine trust in the online world, and urged a concerted effort to “boost…confidence, protect European values, and help Europe become a connected, competitive continent.”

“Under our proposal, sectors using telecoms networks in ways vital to our economy and society – energy, transport, banking, healthcare, and key internet companies – would have to manage risks; and report significant incidents, as we already require for the telecoms sector,” he said.

The EU's member states should be sufficiently equipped to protect themselves, he warned. That means competent authorities for network and information security, and well-functioning computer emergency response teams. They should also cooperate and share at EU level.

“We rely on the internet for ever more services – from shopping and socialising, to healthcare, education, and smart transport,” Kroes said. “But the more we depend on it – the more we depend on it to be secure. Staying open and free is essential to online innovation. And there is no true freedom without security – not when you're walking down the street, and not when you're online.

“We need to protect our networks and systems, and make them resilient. That can only happen when all actors play their part and take up their responsibilities. Cyber threats are not contained to national borders: nor should cybersecurity be.

“Europe needs resilient systems and networks. Failing to act would impose significant costs: on consumers, on businesses, on society. A single cyber incident can cost from tens of thousands of euros for a small business — to millions for a large-scale data breach. Yet the majority of them could be prevented just by users taking simple and cheap measures,” he concluded.


Social media is creating a paradigm shift in the way the world communicates. Defining exactly what that means for your business is key in enabling the substantive communication opportunities, while keeping a keen eye on the risks...Read the full story, the Social Network, from the December 2012 issue of CIR Magazine.

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