EU calls for closer civil-military cyber engagement

Military and civil cyber-security stakeholders will have to work much closer together to boost Europe's network and information security (NIS) in the future, said the European Union (EU), which unveiled its long-awaited cyber-security strategy on 7 February.

"This calls for promoting more [cyber-security] co-ordination between the military and civil sides," Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative for foreign and security policy, said when announcing the new policy. "We've been working through the EDA [European Defence Agency] to enhance the capability that we have, and one of the aspects is how to translate that into support for civilian use. It's also part of the dialogue we are having with NATO."

Ashton co-presented the strategy with Cecilia Malmström and Neelie Kroes, European Commissioners for home affairs and information technology policy, respectively.

The new strategy is laid out in two Commission documents: a policy statement on the general goals and guidelines for key public and private sector actors, and a draft directive with measures designed to achieve a high level of NIS across the 27 member states.

For example, the policy statement said synergies should be strengthened between civilian and military approaches to protect critical cyber assets.