Brussels, 10/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes believes that Europe cannot cut itself off from the rest of the world, or build a fortress in the digital sector on the pretext of its duty to reinforce the protection of its data. Attending the CeBIT fair, the digital technologies conference, which opened in Hanover on 10 March, Kroes called on the European leaders not to confuse “data protection” with “data protectionism” and instead to control and protect the interests of its citizens and businesses through reinforced cooperation with all of the partners concerned, “to make Europe the securest open internet space”. Referring to the trust between the Europeans and the Americans which was broken following the revelations of the NSA spying activities and regarding the American PRISM programme, she said “building walls is not the answer to surveillance issues! We can protect our vulnerable, e.g. small kids, without living behind a data wall.”
This year, the CeBIT conference, which was opened by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel at a ceremony attended by British Prime Minister David Cameron, is focusing on Big Data - in other words the exploitation of mass data and Cloud Computing. The question of cyber-security is always on the agenda of all debates held in the framework of this event, as these two emerging technologies presuppose data transfer, with the risk this brings of confidential information being intercepted and used improperly. Without a rigorous cyber-security policy, this emerging market may never take off due to a lack of confidence on the part of business and consumers, Kroes argued. She believes that online security should now be part and parcel of all business models, “a habit as automatic as locking your front door”. There is good reason for this lack of confidence, with more and more cyber-attacks reported - for example, Deutsche Telekom states that there are 800,000 attacks on its networks every day, or an average of 10 attacks per second. Furthermore, 93% of large companies and 75% of SMEs have reported cyber-attacks against them. These incidents can cost up to €50 million each, Kroes stressed. She called for “European sovereignty”, in which the European Union itself controls its data and takes its responsibilities, but with the idea of shared collaboration and responsibility, which would not jeopardise innovation. From this point of view, she hopes that this year will see the adoption of the draft directive aiming to ensure a high common level of security in the communications and IT systems of the EU. The proposal is still under discussion at the European Parliament and at the Council of Ministers. “Let's act to protect ourselves with more than slogans. Let's work together with the best and trusted partners in and outside Europe”, Kroes concluded. (IL).