The European Union and cyberwarfare

Abstract

This study is specifically concerned with the global phenomenon of cyber-warfare, placing particular emphasis on the context of the EU. Cyber-warfare, unlike traditional attacks related more in causing severe devastations to a country's infrastructure and territory, seems to be the contemporary type of weaponry capable of posing a threat to countries' national security, since it deals with disruptions in the servers of national computer infrastructures. The research question that this study sought to answer was to what extent have the EU and NATO been successful in addressing threats and attacks posed by cyber-warfare. In order to analyze this question, the study sought to delve into the EU's first policy on cyber-warfare initiated in 2008 which had been marked one of the great achievements of the EU, accentuating on its commitment of developing strategies and enhancing its responsibility towards this highly-perilous issue. Alongside with the creation of this policy, the EU together with its various institutions such as the European Commission and the EDA and other agencies/organizations like Europol, the Council of Europe had also thoroughly worked upon developing ways and means of how cyber-warfare can be countered, in the event of threatening the security of its member states. Moreover, the establishment of NATO's policy emphasising upon the responsibility of this military alliance hen confronting this phenomenon, especially in terms of strengthening cyber defence amongst its member states, clearly shows the element of proactivity circumscribed within NATO. The main theory of this study is that cyber-warfare is too big for a singe country to address on its own, due to its characteristics as a relatively complex, fast-growing and constantly evolving concept, thereby the interference of organizations like the EU and NA TO is crucial. In fact, this study explores how EU member states were often inadequate in addressing attacks pertaining to this phenomenon. Thus, this dissertation emphasised the situation in Estonia, when the latter had been hit by a three week wave of cyber-warfare attacks. As analyzed, at first the country tried to act on it without seeking the help and assistance of either the EU or NATO, which led to further depletion of Estonia's resources. The main hypothesis put forward in this dissertation was that as long as hi-technology keeps on ameliorating, EU countries are more susceptible of being highly struck by cyber-warfare. Consequently, this dissertation focused upon the history of cyber-attacks that the European Union had had and is currently facing. In addition, the hypothesis seems to affiliate with the analysis of the case study, whereby cyber aggressors targeted Estonia due to its heavy reliance upon computer infrastructures to perform its day-to day activities. Thereby, a correlation seems to exist between the level of technological advancements in a country and the increased susceptibility of cyber-warfare.