European Union can take action against cybercriminals

The European Union has agreed to new regulations that will allow action to be taken against individuals responsible for cyber-attacks that pose a significant threat to the Union.

The European Union can impose travel bans and freeze the assets of these people, writes Bloomberg. The new rules came into being at a time when European and American officials are concerned about cyber-attacks related to interference in elections, or related to the theft of intellectual property by entities linked to Russia and China.

The measures aim to “respond to and deter cyber-attacks that constitute an external threat to the EU”. According to the Council of European Member States, the measures apply to people responsible for attacks coming from outside the European Union. The block also says it is considering measures to respond to attacks against countries outside the EU or international organisations.

“Our message to governments, regimes and criminal groups that want to carry out cyber-attacks is clear: together the international community is taking all necessary steps to enforce the law and the rule-based international system that keeps our communities safe,” said Jeremy Hunt, the British Foreign Secretary.

China

In recent months, the Member States of the European Union have been working on a joint response to attacks allegedly carried out by the hacker group APT 10, which is allegedly linked to the Chinese state. The United Kingdom then presented evidence of infiltrations into the network.

An insider tells Bloomberg that the block finally gave a statement in April. It asked the group to “stop carrying out such rogue activities”. The statement did not specifically mention China or the hacker group. The declaration was issued three days after a summit of EU and Chinese leaders was held in Brussels.