The European Commission is set to unveil its plan for a "Joint Cyber Unit" on Wednesday / Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP. The European Uni...
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The European Commission is set to unveil its plan for a "Joint Cyber Unit" on Wednesday / Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP. |
The Commission first promised to set up a Joint Cyber Unit in 2019 to stop the cyberattacks that have compromised EU institutions, agencies, national ministries and departments, and leading European companies and organizations. But the plan took many months to finalize because the EU doesn't have competence over national security, and EU countries have been hesitant to give away control over it.
A volley of cyberattacks since have hit national and EU institutions, and could force governments to band together. The European Medicines Agency was breached; cyber espionage campaigns targeted several government officials including Belgium's interior minister and dozens of Polish politicians; and hospitals in Ireland and France have sustained ransomware attacks. The Commission's plan — officially a "recommendation" to national governments — would put the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) in charge of running the unit, likely from new offices in Brussels.
The unit would also coordinate existing work between cyber agencies and authorities across the bloc. A group of EU countries have already created joint cyber response teams under the EU's defense cooperation scheme. Cybersecurity agencies have worked together on policies to protect elections and 5G infrastructure, and cybercrime police from across the Continent cooperate on investigations at the European Cybercrime Centre.
It will also announce its risk analysis of the security of "Open RAN" 5G networks — meant as an alternative to end-to-end 5G kit suppliers like Huawei and Ericsson — that include U.S., Japanese and other new telecoms suppliers.