EU calls for 'Mister Cybersecurity'

The European Union's telecoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, has called for the creation of a European cybersecurity chief.

Speaking on Monday in her weekly video address, Reding claimed that the 27 EU member states had been "quite negligent" in terms of coordinating cybersecurity strategy across the continent. She cited the massive denial-of-service attack that took down Estonia's Internet services in 2007 as a example of the threat that is faced.

>"Although the EU has created an agency for network and information security, called ENISA, this instrument remains mainly limited to being a platform to exchange information and is not, in the short term, going to become the European headquarters of defense against cyberattacks," Reding said.

"I am not happy with that. I believe Europe must do more for the security of its communication networks. Europe needs a 'Mister Cybersecurity' as we have a 'Mister Foreign Affairs', a security tzar with authority to act immediately if a cyberattack is underway, a cyber cop in charge of the coordination of our forces and of developing tactical plans to improve our level of resilience. I will keep fighting for this function to be established as soon as possible."

This article was first published as a blog post on ZDNet UK.