EU agrees to strengthen cyber defense

The European Union is going to strengthen protection against hacker attacks from other countries. The EU Council and the European Parliament have agreed on amendments to the Cybersecurity Act (CSA) and the so-called Cyber Solidarity Act, according to the website of the European institution, UNN reports.

Details

To quickly and efficiently identify major cyber threats, the new regulation creates a "cybersecurity alert system", which is a pan-European infrastructure consisting of national and cross-border cyber hubs across the EU. These are organizations responsible for information exchange and tasked with detecting and responding to cyber threats. 

It is specifically aimed at improving the preparedness and protection of critical facilities and essential services, such as hospitals and utilities.

The new regulation also provides for the establishment of a cybersecurity emergency mechanism to improve preparedness and strengthen incident response capabilities in the EU.

The amendment to the CSA provides for the possibility of future adoption of European certification schemes for "managed security services" provided by specialized companies to clients.

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After the preliminary agreements are reached, both documents must be approved by the EU Council and the European Parliament. On the part of the Council, the Belgian Presidency will transmit the texts to the Member States' Permanent Representatives (Coreper) for approval as soon as possible. Once approved, the draft legislative acts will be submitted for legal/linguistic review before being formally adopted by the co-sponsors, published in the Official Journal of the EU, and enter into force 20 days after that publication.