EU must totally rethink cyber defense, chief says

The European Union's cybersecurity chief warns that the bloc is falling behind in its defense against state-sponsored and criminal cyberattacks.

Cybernews reports that the European Union's cybersecurity chief, Juhan Lepassaar, warns that the bloc is falling critically behind in its defense against a relentless surge of state-sponsored and criminal cyberattacks.

The executive director of ENISA stated that Europe is "losing this game" as threats escalate, citing recent attacks on Poland's power grid and over 5,000 attacks per minute targeting Germany's central bank.

Lepassaar argues that merely increasing traditional defense spending creates a dangerous "loophole" and that the current proposal to expand ENISA's staff is insufficient.

"We just don't need an upgrade. We need a rethink," he said, calling for an entirely new EU-level cyber infrastructure. He highlighted the alarming acceleration of threats, noting the time to exploit software flaws has shrunk from two months to a single day.

While the EU has launched its own Global CVE Allocation System to reduce reliance on a U.S.-backed database, Lepassaar stressed that Europe must "step up and take our fair share" of the burden to build a resilient, continent-wide cyber defense.

Written by

Sharon Florentine Editorial Director

Sharon Florentine is the editorial director for CyberRisk Alliance’s Channel Brands and acting editorial director for SC UK. She is responsible for setting strategy and editorial direction and developing content for news, features, analysis and other written content, moderates live webcasts, and oversees research projects. Sharon has previously held key editorial, content and leadership positions at DevOps.com, Security Boulevard, CIO.com, Ziff Davis Enterprise, and CRN, among others.