EU, US and NATO to Work Together on Cyber Defense

A range of new plans to tackle cyber-crime has been approved by the European Union, the US and NATO over the past three days.

The European Commission announced its proposals to develop three systems to raise the level of security for citizens and businesses in cyberspace. An E.U. cybercrime center to be established by 2013 will coordinate cooperation between member states, E.U. institutions and international partners, while an European information sharing and alert system, also planned for 2013, will facilitate communication between rapid-response teams and law-enforcement authorities. The Commission also wants to create a network of Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) by 2012, with a CERT in every E.U. country. However, Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström was keen to play down concerns that these systems would lead to the creation of yet another citizens' information database, saying that no such database would be set up and that the aim of the new bodies is to manage the flow of information to prevent cyber-attacks, not to store it.