The European Union has set up a specific mechanism that will be used to impose sanctions in response to major cyber attacks. The sanctions policy can be applied against individuals involved in cyberattacks, as well as against parties that sponsor or provide technical support to hacker groups. Restrictive measures in the form of a ban on entry into the territory of the European Union and freezing of finances will be introduced by decision of the relevant authorities. Such an approach should speed up the response from the member states of the union to hacker attacks.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the move "decisive action." In his opinion, "hostile actors" have threatened the security of the European Union for too long, destroying critical infrastructure, trying to steal trade secrets and trying to undermine basic democratic principles. It is noteworthy that sanctions can be applied not only if a hacker attack is detected, but also if an attempt is made to carry out such an operation.
According to a number of European countries, Russia and China regularly carry out cyber attacks on objects located on the territory of the European Union. European leaders are concerned that Russia is influencing elections to the union's parliament, which will be held from 23 to 26 May. The parliamentary elections will be the first since Russia was accused of meddling in a US presidential election. Not so long ago, Fireeye announced that Russian hackers are targeting European government agencies, as well as the German and French media.
Source: 3dnews.ru