During a Transatlantic Cyber Conference organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the European Security Roundtable and SRA international held in Washington, DC, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström in her address to the conference said, “To overcome this growing threat [cybercrime], EU-US cooperation is not a choice, but a necessity.” She went on, “The U.S and the EU are primary targets for different kinds of cyber threats. And our governments, businesses and citizens are under siege from increasingly sophisticated attacks. These attacks can come from many different sources – from other states to organized crimes and hackers.”

The Commissioner went on to discuss the EU-US working group that was launched in November 2010 on cyber–security and cybercrime, and other successful efforts. “Overall, we have had some early successes, such as the first Cyber Atlantic 2011 exercise, which kicked of a groundbreaking program of joint cyber exercises that will culminate in a fully-fledged EU-U.S. cyber exercise in 2014,”she said. The Commissioner also spoke to the need to “ensure that our legislation keeps pace with new technological developments. We hope to agree on a proposal before the summer to bring EU legislation up to date, including measures to address the rising threat from botnets.”

Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute also spoke at the conference. EUobserver reported her saying that, “Cyberspace is the endoskeleton of modern life.”  She also talked to “the U.S. strategy for cyber security as being one of protecting its economy, its networks, expanding its law enforcement capacity and getting governments involved in global Internet governance.”