The European Union is seriously considering equipping itself with a “cyber shield”, a project expected to cost over one billion euros, European Internal Market Commissioner, Thierry Breton, announced in an interview with Les Echos newspaper.

The ambition is to create a “European cyber shield”, which will improve the detection of attacks at an earlier stage, as currently, a period of up to 190 days can pass between the spread of malware and the outbreak of an attack, Breton emphasized.

The investment will amount to over 1 billion euros, two-thirds of which will be financed by Europe, he explained, adding that he will present a European regulation, Cyber ​​Solidarity, on April 18.

On the occasion of the International Forum on Cyber ​​Security (FIC) that takes place in Lille, the Commissioner announced the construction, as early as 2024, of operational security centers in order to strengthen the cyber security of member-states.

With the war in Ukraine, cyber attacks skyrocketed by 140% in Europe. In this context, the mutualization and coordination of forces at the European level have become more necessary than ever because the threat will expand, he underlined, stressing that coincidentally, these activities are increasing in the countries that send arms to Ukraine.

The new regulation will encourage the countries concerned to take radical measures once the person responsible for an attack is identified.

The European Union has already provided itself with a legislative arsenal, such as the “Cyber ​​Resilience Act” regulation, announced at the end of last year, which defines common rules regarding interconnected objects, or the NIS 2 directive, which is expected in 2024 and imposes new security obligations on businesses.

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