{"id":9469,"date":"2026-09-22T14:32:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/humanityandearth.com\/wp\/?p=9469"},"modified":"2026-09-22T16:58:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:58:44","slug":"empty-drum-produce-lots-of-noise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/humanityandearth.com\/wp\/?p=9469","title":{"rendered":"Empty drums produce lots of noise. Brussels\/Slogans."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The EU spent billions on a cyberattack shield \u2014 nobody checked if it worked<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Story by Jonathan Benton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u2022 2h \u2022 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 min read<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FILE – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers State of the European Union address in Strasbourg, eastern France. 16 Sept 2026.\u00a9 Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brussels has allocated \u20ac1.4 billion to defending Europe from cyberattacks. Its own auditors found that when that funding is passed on to third parties, nobody independently checks whether it could be reaching organisations exposed to influence from hostile states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The warning comes from a report<\/a> published on Monday by the European Court of Auditors (ECA), which examined how well the EU detects and responds to major cybersecurity incidents between 2022 and 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Grant beneficiaries are responsible for assessing the ownership and control of any third parties receiving EU cybersecurity funding. But the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre, the body overseeing these grants, does not verify those assessments itself, the auditors found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, sensitive infrastructure, operational data and security-critical technologies could be exposed to security risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The funding falls under the Digital Europe Programme, the EU’s main channel for cybersecurity spending as part of its 2021-2027 budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An alarm system still lagging<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The audit also found that the EU’s early-warning network for major cyberattacks is not yet operational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two hubs meant to anchor the European Cybersecurity Alert System, known as ATHENA and ENSOC, still lack the tools to detect threats and share information after repeated procurement delays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Exceptional Service – Welcome to Croft Filters Ltd – Rundown Screen Supplier<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The cooperation agreements, common classification system and technical standards needed to get the alert system running were also still missing, auditors said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The EU has made progress in building a cybersecurity cooperation framework, but it is not yet working as effectively as it should,” said George-Marius Hyzler, the ECA member in charge of the audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When a serious cyber incident occurs, timely and actionable information is essential. Without it, networks and mechanisms lose much of their added value.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n