Ukraine has gained access to the EU Cybersecurity Reserve for emergency assistance
On June 23, Ukraine officially joined the European Union’s Cybersecurity Reserve, which allows it to call on European experts in the event of large-scale cyberattacks. The emergency cybersecurity support mechanism became operational following the ratification of the relevant agreement by the Verkhovna Rada.
Ukraine has gained official access to the EU Cybersecurity Pool, which will allow it to enlist the best European experts to counter threats during large-scale cyberattacks. This was reported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation
“Ukraine is strengthening the protection of critical infrastructure together with its European partners. From now on, we have official access to the EU Cybersecurity Pool. This means that during large-scale cyberattacks, the state will be able to engage the best European experts to counter threats. The Verkhovna Rada ratified this agreement in the spring—now all legal procedures have been completed on the EU side, and the emergency cybersecurity support mechanism has officially gone into effect,” the statement reads.
According to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the initiative was created under the EU Cyber Solidarity Act and is administered by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).
The main advantage of this tool is that Ukraine gains direct access to the services of vetted private companies specializing in cybersecurity.
“If the enemy launches a serious attack on government information systems, websites, power grids, or other critical infrastructure, Ukraine will be able to submit a request and engage European experts,” the ministry noted.
The experts will help:
- promptly stop and contain the attack;
- analyze the threat and protect information;
- mitigate the consequences and quickly restore system operations.
“Ukraine’s inclusion in the Cybersecurity Reserve demonstrates a high level of cooperation with the EU and is in line with the Strategic Digital Partnership. This cooperation will strengthen the country’s ability to counter threats and respond to cyber incidents in the services used daily by millions of Ukrainians,” the ministry added.
As a reminder, the Russian hacking group Fancy Bear, which is linked to Russian military intelligence, hacked more than 280 email accounts belonging to government and military institutions in NATO countries and the Balkans.
Prior to this, hackers gained access to data from the Booking.com website, the company reported. The attackers were able to obtain information about customer reservations, and some users received emails on Sunday notifying them of a possible data breach.
