LUXEMBOURG: The EU can levy economic sanctions on anyone caught attacking the member states’ computer networks, EU foreign ministers said, the bloc’s latest step to deter more attacks following incidents in Britain and France.
With German national elections in September, interference in democratic votes is a concern for the bloc after accusations of Russian meddling in the US presidential election last November and the French election in May.
EU foreign ministers agreed that so-called restrictive measures including travel bans, assets freezes and blanket bans on doing business with a person, company or government could be used for the first time.
“A joint EU response to malicious cyber activities would be proportionate to the scope, scale, duration, intensity, complexity, sophistication and impact of the cyber activity,” the bloc said in a statement.
A British intelligence agency has told political parties to protect themselves against potential cyberattacks, while the French government dropped plans to let its citizens abroad vote electronically in Sunday’s legislative elections because of the risk of cyberattacks.
EU to use economic sanctions against cyberhackers
EU to use economic sanctions against cyberhackers
