FIC 2020: ANSSI calls for European sovereignty in cybersecurity

2020, Europe’s year for cybersecurity

In recent years, the European Union (EU) has set up a solid foundation for the digital security of European society and economy, notably through the NIS Directive, the Cybersecurity Act and its European Certification Framework. Based on its national expertise, France, and in particular ANSSI, is heavily invested in cooperation with its European partners and ENISA to make this common set of rules operational.

Faced with the scale of the cyber threat, ANSSI calls for this basis to be deepened and for cybersecurity to be positioned as a priority issue for the new European legislature.

Assuming european sovereignty in the field of cybersecurity

The EU must give itself the means to develop its autonomy and leadership in cybersecurity. For ANSSI, Europe’s sovereignty will require renewed efforts in terms of capability development, regulation, industrial policy and governance adapted to the issues at stake.

Firstly, strengthening the EU’s cybersecurity capabilities is imperative within the administrations of the Member States, but also at the level of the economic framework, the citizens and the European institutions themselves.

Moreover, raising the level of security of the European digital space requires that the risks associated with new technologies and new uses must be taken into account in European sectoral public policies. This will also require the development of a European framework of trusted cybersecurity companies, supported by European funding in research and development as well as technological deployment

Finally, European governance will have to be strengthened and experience sharing and networking amongst stakeholders further promoted. The Blue OLEx initiative was a first step towards establishing a high-level European dialogue on cyber issues. It has also made it possible to identify the areas in which cooperation must be strengthened in order to respond in a concerted way to the challenges the European ecosystem is facing. The dialogue between the European institutions will have to be developed too.

« The year 2020 marks the beginning of a new European cycle. Europe must be able to assert its sovereignty in the cyber field in order to promote its values of peace and stability in cyberspace at the international level » said Guillaume Poupard, Director General of ANSSI.

Complete program of ANSSI’s interventions at the FIC 2020:

• Guillaume Poupard’s opening keynote (January 29th / 09:30 AM / Vauban Amphi).
• Workshop « Cybersecurity Act, year one » (29th January / 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM / Pasteur).
  ANSSI will present its vision of the Cybersecurity Act, as well as the missions of the national certification authority.
• Awarding of the EBIOS Risk Manager and SecNumedu-FC for EBIOS Risk Manager labels (29 January / 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM / ANSSI booth).
  The agency will award labels to three software solutions that instantiate the EBIOS Risk Manager method and to three training courses dedicated to EBIOS Risk Manager.
• Workshop « Active Directory: the cornerstone of cybersecurity? » (29 January / 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM / Van Gogh).
  ANSSI will present the stakes and actions of the agency on Active Directory security.
• Workshop « Digital sovereignty: is there no salvation outside Europe? » (29 January / 1:45 PM – 3:15 PM / Vauban).
  The agency will discuss the differences between the notions of strategic autonomy, sovereignty and power.
• ANSSI press conference (29 January / 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM / Press room of the Grand-Palais).
• Signature of the partnership agreement between ANSSI and the DECLIC association (30 January / 10:00 AM -10:30 AM / ANSSI booth).
  The agency will join forces with DECLIC, an association of 35 departmental or regional mutualisation structures.
• Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace panel (30 January / 11:00 AM).
  ANSSI will give a presentation on OECD ongoing work to enhance the digital security of products and responsible management and disclosure of vulnerabilities.
• Workshop « Passwords: the chronicle of a death foretold? » (30 January / 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM / Matisse).
  For ANSSI, it is not the password as such that is in danger of disappearing, but its use as a simple factor. The emergence of alternative, concrete, accessible and secure solutions is being promoted by a regulatory framework geared towards the general public (eIDAS / Law for a digital Republic).
• Workshop « How can we combine security and corporate strategy?” (30 January / 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM / Van Gogh).
  The ANSSI defends taking into account and managing digital risk at the highest level of the organization.

The agency is present throughout the event with a booth, a space for exchange on digital security issues and documentation on good IT practices. This year, a part of ANSSI booth is dedicated to training and another part to the EBIOS Risk Manager method. The booth also includes a recruitment area to allow potential candidates to meet experts and discuss career opportunities at the agency.

Press release – FIC 2020