EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq today hosted a meeting of the principals of the cyber organisations signatories of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concluded in May 2018: the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU Institutions, Bodies and Agencies (CERT-EU).
The purpose of the meeting was to assess the progress achieved since the 2018 MoU and to plan the future cooperation activities for 2020-2021. The MoU provides a comprehensive cooperative framework through which civil-military synergies can be promoted, ultimately aiming to improve cybersecurity of all stakeholders and support Member States’ cyber defence programmes.
In 2019, quadrilateral cooperation was further enhanced with various activities, regular exchanges on topical cybersecurity aspects and participation in respective events of interest.
Looking ahead, the collaboration roadmap prepared by the MoU working group envisages concrete activities on cyber training & education, technology development. The updated roadmap sets ambitious objectives for the coming year, effectively taking the level of cooperation to a new level. As part of the cooperation, the four partners are planning to organise a major event in the second part of 2020, improve their cooperation along the lines of major cybersecurity policy implementation (notably, the Cybersecurity Act) and the update Cyber Defence Policy Framework. They also commit to pay additional attention to improving incident response mechanisms and processes as well as increased joint contributions to high visibility events on Cybersecurity and Cyber Defence.
EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq said: “The efforts required by the implementation of the Cyber Defence Policy Framework and, in general, by our contributing Member States in the cyber defence domain are consistently increasing, and require specialised and committed resources. The collaboration enabled by the MoU is a key factor of our efforts to harmonize these efforts, avoid duplication and support Member States in their capability development programmes”.
ENISA Chief Executive Director Juhan Lepassar said: “I trust this new roadmap will enable the four partners to a closer, more effective collaboration and provide a valuable platform to help the European Union achieve the aims of the EU cyber crisis cooperation Blueprint”.
The Head of Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, Steven Wilson said: "This agreement has paved the road for a number of significant developments in the fight against cybercrime. At Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, we welcome the challenges and opportunities that are to come and continue to believe that we are stronger together in our efforts of securing Europe in the digital age."
The Head of CERT-EU, Saâd Kadhi, stated: “As an entity with a mission to act as the cybersecurity information exchange and incident response coordination hub for its constituents, cooperation runs through CERT-EU’s veins. This MoU, and the ambitious deliverables we have set ourselves, is truly key to strengthening our collective capabilities and reinforcing the ties between the cyber defence, security and law enforcement communities".
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