ENCYSEC – Enhancing cybersecurity

The rapid spread of information and communication technologies has opened up the way for vast economic and human development opportunities.

These, however, come together with potential vulnerabilities and serious risks, such as cybercrime and attacks to digital services and infrastructure. These risks are on the rise especially as the technology advances too fast.

Clearly, the economic and social benefits of cyberspace cannot materialize in a vacuum without a secure and safe underlying digital environment. This becomes even more pertinent as two thirds of Internet users live in the developing world where access to the Internet is growing almost four times faster than in developed countries.

In recognising the strong link between cyber resilience and development, the European Union has defined cyber capacity building in third countries as a strategic building block of its Cybersecurity Strategy.

Specifically in the area of critical information infrastructure protection, the EU sees the need for intensified international cooperation efforts and in 2014 it launched a pilot cybersecurity project involving Kosovo, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Moldova.