EU countries test their ability to cooperate in the event of cyber attacks

EU Member States, the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and the European Commission met today to test and assess their cooperation capabilities and resilience in the event of a cybersecurity crisis. The exercise, organised by the Netherlands with the support of ENISA, is a key milestone towards the completion of  relevant operating procedures. The latter are developed in the framework of the NIS Cooperation Group, under the leadership of France and Italy, and aim for more coordinated information sharing and incident response among EU cybersecurity authorities. Furthermore, Member States, with the support of ENISA, launched today the Cyber Crisis Liaison Organisation Network (CyCLONe) aimed at facilitating cooperation in case of disruptive cyber incidents. Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market, said: “The new Cyber Crisis Liaison Organisation Network indicates once again an excellent cooperation between the Member States and the EU institutions in ensuring that our networks and critical systems are cyber secure. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility and we should work collectively in preparing and implementing rapid emergency response plans, for example in case of a large-scale cyber incident or crisis.”  Juhan Lepassaar, Executive Director of ENISA, added: “Cyber crises have no borders. The EU Agency for Cybersecurity is committed to support the Union in its response to cyber incidents. It is important that the national cybersecurity agencies come together to coordinate decision-making at all levels. The CyCLONe group addresses this missing link.” The CyCLONe Network will ensure that information flows more efficiently among different cybersecurity structures in the Member States and will allow to better coordinate national response strategies and impact assessments. Moreover, the exercise organised today follows up on the Commission’s recommendation on a Coordinated Response to Large Scale Cybersecurity Incidents and Crises (Blueprint) that was adopted in 2017. More information is available in this ENISA press release. More information on the EU cybersecurity strategy can be found in these Q&A and this brochure.