LOC19:51
16:51 GMT
BRUSSELS, Feb 27 (KUNA) -- The European Union's police agency, Europol , announced Thursday that It has joined forces with the European Central Bank (ECB) and a group of Europe's largest and most important financial infrastructures to share vital cybersecurity threat information to help protect European citizens' savings against cybercriminals.
Launched today, this new initiative known as the Cyber Information and Intelligence Sharing Initiative (CIISI-EU) will bring central banks, clearing houses, stock exchanges and payment system providers together with Europol and the EU Agency for Cubersecurity to share expertise with the aim to protect the European financial system from cyberattacks, said Europol in a press release Thursday in the Hague where it is based.
"Our economy relies on the financial system and everyone in Europe benefits from its global success. But the scale and volume of financial activity also brings serious risks of economic crime, and real opportunities for cybercriminals to defraud citizens of their savings and earnings," said Europol's Deputy Executive Director of Operations, Wil van Gemert.
"This is the first time that major financial infrastructures, Europol and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity have jointly taken steps against cyber risk," said ECB Executive Board member, Fabio Panetta. (end)
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