TELECOMMUNICATIONS : NETWORK SECURITY: ENISA RECOMMENDS A DECENTRALISED SYSTEM.

In order to successfully combat cyberattacks in the EU, the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) recommends the implementation of a "decentralised system," which it believes is the only means to overcome the associated linguistic, cultural, social and political barriers. However, the scheme recommended by ENISA may have been presented a bit late. In November 2007, the European Commission had already proposed the establishment of a special unit within a European telecoms authority.

The ENISA, which has advised the EU since 2004, was asked by the Commission in August 2006 to study the possibility of creating a "European multilingual information-sharing and alert system".

The ENISA astudy focusesaon the case of European citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises. Why? "Because the computers of individuals and SMEs, often considered easy prey, are the best targets," explains ENISA Executive Director Andrea Pirotti. He adds that SMEs, precisely because of their size, rarely have the staff necessary to protect strategic information.

To combat the growing number of hackers, the agency recommends that the EU act as a "clearing house". "We could help disseminate the best practices," adds a spokesman. The EU should "lead and facilitate discussions" between national information and alert systems. The aim would be to support initiatives, enable member states to learn from each other, update best practices for information collection and identify the areas or sectors needing...