09/13/2012 -

The institutions of the European Union have permanently established an EU Computer Emergency Response Team, or CERT, after a one year pilot period.

The group is comprised of IT security professionals from institutions including the European Commission (EC), the General Secretariat of the Council, the European Parliament, and the European Network and Information Security Agency. It works closely with each institution’s internal IT security teams as well as other CERTs and security companies in Europe and elsewhere, exchanging information on threats and how to handle them, according to a Commissionstatement.

“The EU institutions, like any other major organizations, are frequently the target of information security incidents,” said EC vice president Maros Sefcovic. “CERT-EU is helping us to improve our protection against these threats.”

The Commission agreed to create an EU institutions CERT as part of the Digital Agenda for Europe, adopted in May 2010. The Agenda also called on all Member States to establish their own CERT. An inter-institutional Steering Board will have strategic oversight of the new group, according to the Commission.

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