EU Adopts Tough Anti-Cybercrime Legislation

Cybercrime is a growing problem of the modern age and on Thursday the European Parliament adopted a new set of rules to fight cybercrime with a more tough stance. The new measures came in with a majority vote of 541 for and 91 against and all EU nations must adopt these new laws within 2 years.

The new directive states that cybercriminals who interfere with data and information systems, or intercept communications and sell hacking tools, will face at least two years in prison. Attacks against serious infrastructure that cause serious damage will be met with a minimum of 5 years while Botnet creators will face a minimum of 3 years.

Furthermore inter-state cooperation is designed to be improved and member states are being told to collect cyberattack statistics and have the relevant authorities to process such data and respond to attacks.

“This is an important step to boost Europe’s defences against cyber-attacks. Attacks against information systems pose a growing challenge to businesses, governments and citizens alike. Such attacks can cause serious damage and undermine users’ confidence in the safety and reliability of the Internet” said Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner of Home Affairs.

Image courtesy of capreform.eu