European Union increases its investment in cyber security

According to the new brochure the EU released about its cyber security strategy it aims to get better at ever evolving cyber threats. The strategy outlines plans for regulatory and policy changes as well as new investments.

The Strategy aims to safeguard a global and open Internet by harnessing and strengthening all tools and resources to ensure security and protect European values and the fundamental rights of everyone.

Connected devices are forecast to rise to 25 billion by 2025. A quarter of these will be in Europe.

Changes in working patterns has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic — 40% of EU workers switched to telework in early 2020.

Two in five EU users have experienced security-related problems.

One in eight businesses have been affected by cyberattacks.

The annual cost of cybercrime to the global economy is estimated to have reached €5.5 trillion at the end of 2020, double the figure of 2015.

EU funding in the 2021–2027 Multiannual Financial Framework could amount to €2 billion overall plus Member States and industry investment.

EU investments in digital projects should amount to at least 20% — equivalent to €134.5 billion — of the €672.5 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility.

The strategy aims to change EU Cybersecurity Act Regulation, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Electronic Identification Regulation (eIDAS) to step up the effort for a global safe digital space.

“Investing in cybersecurity means investing in the healthy future of our online environments and in our strategic autonomy.” — Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market

Organisations have to take cyber security and privacy even more seriously. In a digital world, the threats are always evolving very fast. Knowing the risks and taking precautionary measures are a must. To keep up with the changing threats as well as regulations, organisations have to be in-line with the updated international standards. ISO standards that are available to comply such as ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27701 and ISO/IEC 27002, is going to help assure that organisations’ ability to protect themselves and the data they hold.