The European Commission has announced plans to build a Joint Cyber Unit to tackle large scale cyber-attacks.
Recent ransomware incidents on critical services in Ireland and the US has “focused minds”, the commission said.
It argued cyber-attacks were a national security threat, as incidents in Europe rose from 432 in 2019 to 756 in 2020.
A dedicated team of multi-national cyber-experts will be rapidly deployed to European countries during serious attacks, it said.
Launching the proposals, European Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas said last month’s hack on US fuel supplies was ‘the “nightmare scenario that we have to prepare against”.
Last month, a cyber-criminal gang called Darkside forced the Colonial Pipeline offline for nearly a week, causing panic buying and fuel shortages.
Recent ransomware incidents on critical services in Ireland and the US has “focused minds”, the commission said.
It argued cyber-attacks were a national security threat, as incidents in Europe rose from 432 in 2019 to 756 in 2020.
A dedicated team of multi-national cyber-experts will be rapidly deployed to European countries during serious attacks, it said.
Launching the proposals, European Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas said last month’s hack on US fuel supplies was ‘the “nightmare scenario that we have to prepare against”.
Last month, a cyber-criminal gang called Darkside forced the Colonial Pipeline offline for nearly a week, causing panic buying and fuel shortages.
Ransomware hackers use malicious software to scramble and steal an organisation’s computer data – charging victims money to return services back to normal.
The US government has also recently formed a Ransomware Task Force, while the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre warns that ransomware is the biggest cyber-threat to UK.
The European Commission said that the ongoing ransomware attack on Ireland’s health service is another sign that cyber-attacks are a national security issue.