Cyberspace has become part of our daily life as the majority of activities are nowadays connected with the high-tech industry. In addition, societies have become digitalised and cyberspace has become a new factor of interest in world politics.
As the use of Internet is expanding exponentially, influencing all actors within our society, it has become clear that the ease of access to data brings together security issues. Cyber-attacks on public and private actors are reported daily and this increasing number of attacks have economic and social consequences within a state. These has made officials acknowledge the need to protect public and private networks.
However, it is intriguing that given the impact that cyber-attacks could have and the fact that in the last years, at European Union level efforts have been put towards promoting cyber security, it is the case that until now the European Union does not have a common approach toward accomplishing this goal.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ongoing process of approval of the Network and Information Security Directive at European Union level. The Directive proposes a common framework in handling cyber security and it is supposed to create a collaboration network within the Member States. Such measures will positively affect both citizens and business and will create a standardization in the field of cyber security at European level.
Given the fact that the proposed Directive is still under negotiation, I will undertake an investigation in identifying the elements that might hinder progress in the field.
The following investigation will target decision making and policy harmonization at European level and will identify the major influences that can be connected to the lack of visible progress in the field of cyber security.