The European Union (EU) is paving the way for a digitally aware, secure, and productive community by transforming its entire digital infrastructure, including those for business prospects, governmental security, effectiveness, individual data privacy, and other safeguards. Central to this transformation is the Digital Decade program, which has set numerous targets and guidelines for various objectives in the digital sphere. At the forefront of these objectives is cybersecurity, where the EU is already ahead of the game with the NIS2 Directive, which aims to strengthen cyber-resilience across the Union in response to the growing dependency of critical sectors on digitalization and their higher exposure to cyberthreats.
The proposed EU Cyber Solidarity Act is perhaps the most critical development within this initiative, with a goal to strengthen the Union by establishing better detection, preparedness, and response to significant or large-scale cybersecurity incidents. The act seeks to create a European Cybersecurity Shield and a Cyber Emergency Mechanism, leveraging national and cross-border Security Operations Centers (SOCs) that are equipped with state-of-the-art tools to detect and respond to cyberthreats.
EU’s take on cybersecurity is an excellent example of the “Brussels effect,” wherein any policy creation by the institution affects not only its member states but also other relevant stakeholders globally. Companies have to adopt policies and regulations issued by the EU rather than creating specific standards for a single state, so as not to incur unnecessary costs in maintaining multiple approaches. Consequently, the EU has managed to elevate standards worldwide, especially in areas such as data and digital privacy, consumer health and safety, environmental protection, antitrust, and online hate speech.
To tackle cyberthreats within its block of members, the EU proposed establishing a network of Security Operations Centers (SOCs). Powering these SOCs with AI and advanced data analytics would help anticipate, detect, and respond to cyberattacks at the national and EU levels. With countries worldwide pushing for more in-depth national cybersecurity strategies as responses to the use of cyberspace for warfare, relying on a network of SOCs in the case of a multi-country cyberattack could make or break a state. A safety net of this magnitude could potentially add to company security and might serve as a new standard in the future – globally.
Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) or enterprises will likely serve the necessary facilities and operations for SOCs. Companies proficient in incident detection and response, such as those that provide EDR, MDR (for those without in-house expertise), and XDR (for those with in-house experts), already possess the necessary tools and expertise. Collectively, the network of SOCs could create a safety net of great proportions for national security, which would necessarily impact MSPs or MSSPs, but the details are still up in the air.
SOCs use various important tools to protect their clients, such as selecting, operating, and maintaining an organization’s cybersecurity technologies continually analyzing threat data, improving security posture, unifying and coordinating a company’s security tools, and practices. This results in improved prevention and policies, faster threat detection, and more effective response to security threats without incurring higher costs. This could also improve customer confidence and strengthen businesses’ compliance with relevant privacy regulations. SOCs can manage a wide range of responsibilities, including maintaining relevant assets, incident response planning, regular vulnerability assessments, always keeping their clients up to date with the latest security solutions and technologies, and monitoring media channels to stay informed.
With the EU’s expansion into digital sovereignty and cybersecurity at the forefront, MSSPs could potentially coax the EU into accepting help and points of view from those who know how to act against digital threats. The national and cross-border SOCs will likely be served by experienced security providers. As technology evolves and progresses, the EU must understand its implications fully, with the cybersecurity world at the forefront of this understanding. The digital decade must culminate in a lasting perpetual Pax Europaea, where cybersecurity players must be the main hero.