Dublin, 25 November 2021: EM Ireland and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung today held an online discussion entitled, ‘A Secure Future: Cybersecurity and the EU’ to examine the growing importance of cybersecurity across EU policy areas. The discussion included analysis of the role of the EU Cybersecurity Strategy in promoting cyber resilience, safeguarding data and keeping the online economy secure.
Jo De Muynck, Head of Operational Cooperation at the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, who spoke at the event said,
“In 2020, the EU experienced a 72% increase of reported incidents in critical sectors that had a significant impact. The EU Cybersecurity Strategy outlined a new vision to tackle the rising number of cyber incidents. The ransomware attack on the Irish health services showed the impact on public services but it was an incident that could happen in a similar way in other EU Member States. Therefore, the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) created a lessons-learnt overview for managing a large-scale crises, which is shared with national incident response teams across Europe.”
John Reyels, Head of the Cyber Policy Coordination Staff of the German Federal Foreign Office said,
“As EU-diplomats we need to work together closely to make the EU a force for security and stability in cyberspace. This includes calling out malicious state behaviour via joint attribution of cyber incidents. We should also strive to strengthen EU cyber institutions in order to allow all EU Member States to increase their cyber resilience and to respond to cyber-attacks more effectively. EU-diplomacy must seek to build strong alliances with democratic states across the globe to advance the multilateral framework of responsible state behaviour inside the United Nations.”
The event was moderated by Noelle O Connell, CEO of EM Ireland and featured an address by Matthias Barner, Director of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung UK & Ireland as well as discussion on issues concerning prevention, the securing of critical infrastructure and protection of intellectual property; and the development of capabilities to respond and equip organisations and citizens; the experiences of other EU Member States and the recent attack on the Irish Health Service.
To watch the event back, visit https://www.europeanmovement.ie/a-secure-future-cybersecurity-and-the-eu/
For more, follow #EMIKAS
-ENDS –
Press Queries: Lisa Nic an Bhreithimh, Head of Communications and Education, European Movement Ireland | 087 9503539 | E: lisa@europeanmovement.ie
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Notes:
- Contact Lisa Nic an Bhreithimh to arrange for interview / comment – details as above.
- Tá urlabhraithe Gaeilge ar fáil le hagallaimh a dhéanamh leis na meáin Gaeilge;
- This is the final event of a three-part series of joint Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung – EM Ireland events offering a range of different perspectives on the issues and opportunities that impact Ireland and its global relationships. Featuring high-level speakers, these events focus on areas for potential cooperation, mutual challenges and practical solutions. Previous events can be viewed here and
- About KAS: The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) is a German political foundation closely associated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). At home as well as abroad, the civic education and dialogue programmes aim at promoting freedom and liberty, peace, and justice. Primary concerns are strengthening representative democracy, promoting European unification, expanding transatlantic relations and increasing development cooperation. The foundation has a base in Dublin, Ireland since January 2020. For more information visit kas.de/uk-irland www.kas.de.
- About European Movement Ireland: Founded in 1954, European Movement (EM) Ireland is the longest established Irish NGO working on European affairs. An independent, not-for-profit, membership organisation, EM Ireland works to develop the connection between Ireland and the European Union. We facilitate links between all sectors of Irish society and the EU, through advocacy campaigns, education programmes, training courses, information briefings and networking events.