The European Commission (EC) has called on European heads of Government to harmonise Internet security throughout the 15 Member States. In their latest communication to Member States, Brussels mandarins have stated the need for a more collaborative approach to tackling problems such as computer viruses, hacking, denial of service attacks and the interception of Web-based communications.
As the only effective defence against viruses is early warning, the Commission is proposing a more effective networking of European warning and information systems. It states that further collaboration is needed to provide technical solutions, but that these must be interoperable. According to the Commission’s ‘White Paper’, “encryption software is useless if not compatible at both ends, thus common standards need to be developed.”
The paper commits the EC to drawing up a regulation aimed at harmonising the introduction of computer security systems across the European Union. To ensure that these are based on solid foundations, the paper also ties Brussels to establishing an inventory of measures taken by Member States to promote Internet security.
The EC document also contains a number of other firm proposals debated by the June Summit of EC leaders. These include:
- awareness raising: the Commission wants to promote an understanding of the risks involved in using global networks so that computer end users and security managers can make informed choices about the level of security they want;
- research: EU ministers and officials are currently deciding how they should spend the budget of the 6th Research Framework Programme (currently, some 3.6 billion Euro is earmarked for IT studies, with the Commission suggesting that large chunks of this money should be spent on Internet security);
- E-Government: the Commission wants Member States to encourage private companies to adopt ‘cyber security’ – by introducing their own interoperable systems for services delivered via the Internet;
- international consultation: with cybercrime being a global problem, and criminals operating from all parts of the world, the paper commits the European Commission to holding discussions about the problem with a host of other international organisations.