Softpedia >News >Security
Softpedia Homepage   

US and EU Collaborate On Cyber Security Exercise

They hope these exercises will help them handle better potential attacks

Nov 4, 2011 10:55 GMT  ·  By
The US and the EU join hands in a unique collaboration on cyber security
   The US and the EU join hands in a unique collaboration on cyber security

November 3, 2011, is the historical date when the first joint cyber security exercise between the United States and the European Union took place. The purpose of the test that took place in Brussels was to determine how well the two would collaborate in the event of a cyberattack that would target their critical infrastructures.

According to ENISA, more than 20 states participated on behalf of the EU at the test called Cyber Atlantic 2011, a part of their commitment to global cyber security.

The whole procedure took place with the support of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) and the US Department of Homeland Security who is more involved than ever in assessing and handling online threats.

“It is an honour for ENISA to be facilitating this extremely important milestone in international cyber security cooperation. European Vice-President, Neelie Kroes, has spoken of the importance of information communications technology for today’s citizens and for the economy,” revealed ENISA’s Executive Director, Professor Udo Helmbrecht.

“The involvement of the Commission, EU Member States and, of course, the US, in today’s exercise shows the high level of commitment we have to ensuring that we protect our digital infrastructures for the benefit of all citizens.”

Two main scenarios were played during the exercise. In the first, a silent advanced persistent threat was simulated, allegedly attempting to steal secret data from the cyber security agencies governed by the EU member states.

A disruption in the power generation infrastructures was simulated in the second scenario. The much-debated SCADA systems were put to the test to see how well they would handle an attack.

Back in 2010, in Lisbon, when the two parties first signed an agreement to collaborate on cyber security issues, among other things they've established the EU-U.S.Working Group on Cyber-security and Cyber-crime. “As we both face new challenges, we want our partnership to bring greater prosperity and security to our 800 million citizens on the two sides of the Atlantic,” read their statement.