The European Commission has unveiled details of an ambitious initiative that aims to boost personal security and privacy in the online world.

Solving security and dependability issues are "absolutely vital" if companies and consumers are to make the most of new technologies, according to the Commission, which is supporting the SecurIST project to ensure continued developments in the area.

This pan-European taskforce is charged with establishing the Commission's Strategic Research Agenda for ICT Security and Dependability in Europe for 2007 to 2013.

The project has established an EU-based security and dependability working group of European experts. Its aim is to create a roadmap and ICT strategy to take Europe beyond 2010.

Security and dependability are two linked concepts, according to the taskforce. Security encompasses confidentiality, integrity and availability of information and seeks to preserve these properties in the face of threats such as software failure, human error or deliberate attack.

Dependability, on the other hand, encompasses availability, reliability, safety, integrity and maintainability. Dependability aims to maintain these attributes in the face of possible accidental, physical and design faults.

"The project should provide Europe with a clear European-level view of the strategic opportunities, strengths, weakness and threats in the area of security and dependability," said Jim Clarke, co-ordinator of SecurIST, and programme manager at the Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland.

"It will identify priorities for Europe, and the mechanisms to effectively focus efforts on those priorities, identifying instruments for delivering on those priorities and a coherent time frame for delivery."

The 200-plus researchers are divided into specific initiatives within the overall remit of the taskforce.