EU Prepares for Transnational Cyberattacks

Europe is girding for a possibility of a transnational cybersecurity incident through recommendations outlining a continental response for transnational cybersecurity threats.

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The Council of the European Union on Friday approved a crisis management initiative that seeks to improve “the EU’s overall preparedness for multi-dimensional hybrid threats.”

The EU Cyber Blueprint “serves as a practical tool for member states and EU bodies to work together to prepare for and respond to a cyber crisis that could affect our critical infrastructure and public security,” said Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president of the European Commission for technology sovereignty.

The development comes as the EU faces heightened cyber risk from nation-state hackers, particularly from Russian and Chinese hackers amid escalating geopolitical tensions (see: Russian Intelligence Hackers Stalk Western Logistics Firms).

Microsoft on Wednesday warned that European critical infrastructure continues to face “persistent” and “prolific” threats from Russian and Chinese hackers, with the highest number of hacks recorded in Germany, the United Kingdom and France.

The Dutch government and Microsoft in May disclosed a hacking campaign by a novel Russian hacking group that it warned are targeting European and NATO allies (see: NATO Countries Targeted By New Russian Espionage Group).

The Cyber Blueprint recommends that the national computer incident response teams coordinate with the European cyber crisis liaison organization network, EU-CyCLONe to identify cyber incidents that could escalate to trans-national disruptive hacks. It encourages organizations to share information on incidents, tactics and actively exploited vulnerabilities to prevent and deter such hacks.

The operations of CIRTs and EU-CyCLONe will be monitored by ENISA, the Europan Union Agency for Cybersecurity. The initiative will help in “strengthening” the EU’s “cooperative efforts” to tackle threats facing its critical infrastructure, said ENISA Director Juhan Lepassaar.

Recommendations made by the EU Cyber Blueprint align with the Network and Information Systems Directive 2 that came into force October last year. The regulation mandates prompt incident reporting for IT service providers across a range of sectors such as energy, transport, healthcare and finance (see: Most EU Nations to Miss Upcoming NIS2 Deadline).