EU simulates total cyber warfare to check state of defences

LONDON - Essential web services have come under a simulated attack as European nations test their cyber defences.

The tests, dubbed Cyber Europe 2010, has experts from EU Member States try to cope with a series of simulated attacks on key internet services, which could, if not defended against, cripple Europe’s online connectivity and bring about a total network crash.

The BBC quoted Neelie Kroes, European commissioner for the digital agenda, as saying that the exercise was designed to test preparedness and was an “important first step towards working together to combat potential online threats to essential infrastructure”.

The exercise is intended to help expose short-comings in existing procedures for combating attacks. As the attacks escalated, cyber security centres had to find ever more ways to route traffic through to key services and sites, the report said.

Meanwhile, the exercise also tested whether communication channels, set up to help spread the word about attacks, were robust in the face of a developing threat and whether the information shared over them was relevant.

European Network Security Agency, which is overseeing the exercise, has reportedly been given new powers to help member states handle cyber security incidents. In all, 22 member states plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland took part.

A report into how the simulation went and how different nations coped is due to be published on 10 November, the report added. (ANI)