On 4 October 2012, the 2nd Pan-European Cyber Exercise took place across Europe, Cyber Europe 2012. This is a practical exercise that includes the participation of over 300 security professionals in European cyberspace, joining forces to counter a massive simulated cyber-attack.
Four countries are participating as observers and 25 countries, including Portugal through ANACOM, are participating actively in the exercise. The private sector (finance, Internet service providers and electronic government agencies) is participating for the first time.
Cyber Europe 2012 entails several activities at national and European level to improve the resilience of critical information infrastructures. The exercise of 2012, which has grown considerably in scope, scale and complexity compared to 2010, constitutes a major milestone in the efforts to strengthen cyber crisis cooperation, preparedness and response across Europe.
Cyber Europe 2012 has three objectives:
1. Test effectiveness and scalability of existing mechanisms, procedures and information flow for public authorities' cooperation in Europe;
2. Explore the cooperation between public and private stakeholders in Europe;
3. Identify gaps and challenges on how large scale cyber incidents could be handled more effectively in Europe.
In the exercise, the public and private participants from across Europe act nationally, while, public participants also cooperate simultaneously on a cross-border basis. The scenario for Cyber Europe 2012 combines several technically realistic threats into one simultaneously escalating Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on online services in all participating countries. This kind of scenario would disrupt services for millions of citizens across Europe.
The complexity of the scenario allows for the creation of enough cyber incidents to challenge the several hundred public and private sector participants from throughout Europe, while at the same time triggering cooperation. By the end of the exercise, the participants will have had to handle more than 1000 injects (simulated cyber incidents).
Cyber Europe 2012 is organized by the Member States of the European Union and signatory countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). It is mediated by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) and supported by the internal scientific service of the European Commission, the Joint Research Centre (JRC).
Further information:
- Europe joins forces in Cyber Europe 2012 http://www.enisa.europa.eu/media/press-releases/europe-joins-forces-in-cyber-europe-2012
