DIGITALEUROPE welcomes the decision of the European Commission to beef up cybersecurity and recognises that joint efforts are necessary to address cybercrime with no delay

DIGITALEUROPE welcomes the strong push for cybersecurity made by President Juncker in his State-ofthe-Union speech at the European Parliament today, as well as the cybersecurity plans outlined by the European Commission. As President Juncker rightly highlighted, “last year alone there were more than 4,000 ransomware attacks per day and 80% of European companies experienced at least one cybersecurity incident”

Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, Director-General of DIGITALEUROPE, said: “We welcome the decision of the European Commission to beef up cybersecurity and to recognize that joint efforts are necessary to address cybercrime with no delay. Cybersecurity knows no borders and must be tackled as soon as possible. The EU loses an average of 0,4% of GDP from cybercrime, and cybercrime prevent SMEs to develop”.

She added: “In the connected society, Cyber security is at the heart of policy makers duties. The EU institutions must beef up cybersecurity in close collaboration with the private sector. It is our common responsibility to build a safe cyber environment where citizens and business can live, operate and grow safely. European Countries must work together to make a sound and secure digital growth.”

In the spirit of shaping the right EU framework for cybersecurity, DIGITALEUROPE also highlights that:

1. EU should have a high focus on improving security skills all levels of society, business and public sector Europe cannot afford for the implementation of the NIS Directive to be fragmented.

2. Expectations in terms of security requirements for Digital Service Providers need to be harmonized across the Member States.

3. The industry welcomes the Commissions effort in reviewing obstacles to criminal investigations on cybercrime, notably on issues of access to electronic evidence across borders. However, any potential solutions should in no way lead to a requirement for a service provider to reverse engineer, provide back doors or any other technology mandates to weaken the security of its service. Such measures would only lead to a weakening of data security and privacy of the entire digital ecosystem