EU Seeks Better Coordination to Battle Next Big Cyberattack

The EU is looking to head off the next major cyberattack against Europe by creating rules for how member states should react and respond. The new EU protocol is meant to better coordinate the response to large-scale disruptions such as WannaCry and NotPetya.

Europol, the EU’s law enforcement intelligence agency, announced Monday that the EU Council – one of the EU’s major decision-making bodies – has adopted the EU Law Enforcement Emergency Response Protocol. The framework is designed to help the EU more rapidly respond to cross-border cyberattacks, and ensure that agencies are cooperating and that information about attacks is shared in a timely manner.

Rapid interagency coordination will be crucial for securing critical infrastructure and minimizing the impact of hack attacks, says Joseph Carson, the Estonia-based chief security scientist at security vendor Thycotic.

“This new agreement strengthens EU member states so they can collectively work together when cyberattacks occur as well as share intelligence to help disrupt and prevent cyberattacks from spreading quickly,” Carson tells Information Security Media Group. “This is a major step in the right direction for nation states to be more transparent and work together to defend against today’s rising cyber threats.”