Security News > 2021 > June > EU Announces New Joint Cyber Unit to Protect Against Critical Attacks

EU Announces New Joint Cyber Unit to Protect Against Critical Attacks
2021-06-24 17:01

Joint Cyber Unit will create more situational awareness and guarantee preparedness to large-scale cybersecurity crises.

In the EU, this has taken the form of a new Joint Cyber Unit, situated next to ENISA's offices in Brussels.

"The tasks of the Joint Cyber Unit will be to ensure EU coordinated response, create more situational awareness and guarantee the preparedness to large-scale cybersecurity crises. The Unit's support is to identify where the operational capabilities lie and to mobilize the EU cybersecurity rapid reaction teams. The capabilities would still be on the national level. However, the Unit would put the tools and processes in place to be able to react in an agile manner when a cyber crisis would occur."

The implication is that JCU may well have access to some 5-Eyes intelligence via the UK, but any unilateral retributive action will be down to the UK and have nothing to do with JCU. "Based on what is out in the public domain," Jens Monrad, EMEA director of Mandiant Threat Intelligence told SecurityWeek, "There are no current plans for a collective European offensive action. For the EU to collectively reach an agreement to respond using offensive capabilities towards an attributed 'enemy' will require a lot more groundwork to be covered on how to assess cyber as a domain. Additionally, I believe that it would change how the EU is addressing attacks or threats today."

"With similar threats faced across the European Union - particularly against critical infrastructure - often with the same adversaries, pulling together will allow the bloc to make step changes in its cyber defense. The new cyber unit will set a powerful precedent for international collaboration as central to our future global cyber defense."

"What is also not clear," comments Cyren's Starr, "Is how the Joint Cyber Unit is going to work with private industry. More often than not, it is private sector specialists who identify breaches as they have the cutting-edge skill sets to do so."


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