Cybersecurity in the era of hypercompetitiveness: can the EU meet the new challenges?

Abstract

In her 2021 State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed the need to improve EU cybersecurity. The threat landscape is diverse and changing, and includes disinformation and fake news, cyber-attacks on government infrastructure and interference in elections in third countries. With this in mind, in December 2020 the EU unveiled a new Cybersecurity Strategy that includes legislative and institutional initiatives: from the revision of the NIS Directive – the EU’s first cybersecurity legislation – to the establishment of a cybershield to identify large-scale cyber-attacks. To be effective in this field, which involves a multitude of actors, the EU will need to ensure robust cooperation and information exchange, both at national and European level, as well as with NATO.