Europe warned of 'digital 9/11'

Many European countries lack some of the basic components needed to ward of a cyber-attack

The European Union has warned that member states are in desperate need of upgrades to digital security programmes.

The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) claimed that many countries in Europe have work to do in order to get network and information system infrastructure up to par.

Many EU member countries are lacking some of the basic components needed to ward of a cyber-attack, such as a dedicated computer emergency response team.

ENISA noted that 14 member states have government-supported response teams, and that two more will be formed in the coming year.

But the group warned that countries need to plan for electronic attacks now, or risk being vulnerable to a "digital 9/11".

"Europe must take security threats more seriously and invest more resources, " said Andrea Pirotti, executive director of ENISA.

"ENISA calls for the EU to introduce mandatory reporting on security breaches and incidents for business, as the US has already done.

"Member states should undertake concerted efforts to reduce the imbalances in security levels with more cross-border cooperation.

"ENISA is confident that the need for secure networks to safeguard the European economy is a distinct driving force for member states to cooperate more closely."

The group also stressed the need to address social networking threats, and to control spam which it estimates cost European businesses €64.5bn in 2007.