"The deteriorating security environment following Russia's aggression against Ukraine," has prompted the European Union to reevaluate its cyber security policies. The EU Cyber Defence policy was subsequently proposed in a joint communication issued by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on November 10th. What does the policy aim to do?: It primarily aims to boost the EU's defence capabilities and capacities to protect and secure civilian and military infrastructure. Enhanced cooperation and investments in cyber defence have also been proposed to better defend against the growing number of cyber-attacks the EU is reportedly facing. How will it achieve this?: Four pillars shape the policy. While they cover various aspects of capacity building—better investments, education, and training, for example—at their core, they seek to build stronger cooperation between civilian actors and the military. Is the EU really facing heightened cybersecurity threats?: Yes—if its press release is anything to go by. One of the key issues here is that civilian and defence sectors depend on the same critical infrastructure—which needs to be secured to prevent disruptions and other negative fallouts. To illustrate, the EU primarily focuses on Russian aggressions in its conflict with Ukraine, and how these have ripple effects on the EU as well. For example, Russia's alleged attack on the KA-SAT satellite network in February not only disrupted communications for Ukrainian armed forces, but for several public authorities in the EU, argues the press release. What are the next steps?: Now that the policy has been…
