Ansip sees opportunity for EU to shape global cyber standards

Andrus Ansip, the EU commissioner responsible for the digital single market, said he would like to see "more cooperation" on cybersecurity matters between the EU and US, and highlighted the potential to shape standards for security in the world of the 'internet of things' (IoT).

Speaking at a conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Ansip said there is scope to build on existing proposals that have been outlined in the EU on cybersecurity.

Plans to establish "clear and mandatory baseline IT security requirements" that device manufacturers selling in or exporting from the EU would be required to adhere to are currently being considered by EU law makers.

Alongside those proposals are further plans which would require the EU's cybersecurity agency, the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA), to develop a new "IT security certification scheme".

Ansip said the proposed EU certification for cybersecurity products and services "should be a good basis to discuss and make sure that our cyber standards are aligned on both sides of the Atlantic".

"If both sides could agree on common security standards for the IoT, this would set a global standard," he said.

Ansip also backed the exchange of "detailed information about cyber incidents" between the EU and US as a means to "help to prevent future attacks".

"We are in the same boat here: if Europe is the target today, the United States could easily be under attack tomorrow," he said.