A decade of securing Europe’s cyber future. The EU’s cyber security Agency ENISA is turning ten, and is looking at future challenges.

On 14^th March 2004, the first ENISA regulation was adopted by the EU (by the Council and the European Parliament). Ten years on, cyber security is even more crucial for the economy. As such, cyber security is high on the political and societal agenda. The ten-year milestone will be celebrated throughout the year with international and local events, taking stock of the past, as well as looking at the developments over the years, with a particular focus on future challenges.

The Executive Director of ENISA, Professor Udo Helmbrecht, commented: “I am proud of what ENISA has achieved so far by successfully giving support to strengthen the cyber security capability in Europe through its prevention and preparedness activities. Examples include:

• Flashnotes providing information on significant cyber-attacks, etc., at the time they unfold.
• Organising the cybersecurity exercises Cyber Europe 2010, Cyber Atlantic 2011, Cyber Europe 2012.
• Training, support and further building of “digital fire brigades”; or CERT community, as well as the development of 8 governmental CERTs in 2005, to around 25 in 2014.
• Supporting the Members States: request for advice increased from 2 in 2010 to 14, so far, in 2014.
• Producing the annual Threat Landscape reports.
• Producing the annual major incidents report (Article 13a).
• Supporting the EU Cyber Security Month in October.
• Reports, guidelines and best practices, on issues of importance in the field of cyber security, such as Cloud Security, SCADA, e-ID, smart phones, social networks, data protection and cryptography, and much more.

Throughout this period, we have been a bridge between the public and private sectors, providing unique, independent advice with an EU-focus on cyber security.

Although we are proud of what we have achieved so far over the past decade, we are still not satisfied. The battle with the cyber criminals is ongoing, like an “eternal marathon”. In addition, the political and societal demands on cyber security are constantly rising. This will be even more so in the future. We will face an increased need for more cyber security and a bigger, stronger and more enhanced ENISA in a digital society. This is necessary in order to reap the benefits of new technologies and business models, whilst containing the associated risks to a reasonable level.

We thank our stakeholders for their support during the first ten years of the Agency, during which ENISA has evolved from a start-up to a mature organisation. We now we look forward to our further collaboration,” Executive Director Helmbrecht concludes.

Statement by Vice President and EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes "Europe's citizens and businesses are increasingly going online – bringing a huge benefit to our economy and society. But they have the right to stay secure when they do so: and they won't use what they can't trust. Combined with strong EU legislation for network and information security, ENISA's work is helping us build that trust and security, to make Europe the world's safest online space. I congratulate ENISA for their work over the last 10 years – and wish them the best of luck for the next 10 too."

Background: EU Cyber Security Strategy

For interviews; Ulf Bergström, Senior Corporate Communications Officer and Spokesman, ulf.bergstrom@enisa.europa.eu, mobile: + 30 6948 460 143, or Dr Steve Purser, Head of Core Operations, (through secretary) irma.wunderlin@enisa.europa.eu