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CIAO DATE: 08/05
Information security: A new challenge for the EU
Alain Esterle, Hanno Ranck and Burkard Schmitt
Edited by Burkard Schmitt
March 2005
Abstract
The Internet has opened a new area of communication and information, enabling us to transfer enormous amounts of digital data for a great variety of applications within fractions of a second around the globe. It is therefore no surprise that it has become, within only a few years, the spinal column of modern societies. Citizens, research institutions, private business, NGOs, political parties and public services all increasingly depend in their daily life and work on interlinked information systems and networks.
Dependency, however, creates vulnerabilities and risks. Given its enormous success, disruption of the Internet – even temporary – can cause tremendous economic and financial damage. At the same time, the Internet can be misused as an instrument for all kind of criminal activities, be they economically or politically motivated. Cybercrime and cyberterrorism have thus become serious threats to the security of our society.
This Chaillot Paper explains the security risks that modern information systems incur, and the various attempts of the European Union and its member states to cope with these risks.
