{"id":241137,"date":"2026-07-07T15:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/eu-commission-launches-plan-to-counter-ai-driven-cybersecurity-threats-insight-eu-monitoring\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T15:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:37:00","slug":"eu-commission-launches-plan-to-counter-ai-driven-cybersecurity-threats-insight-eu-monitoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/eu-commission-launches-plan-to-counter-ai-driven-cybersecurity-threats-insight-eu-monitoring\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Commission launches plan to counter AI-driven cybersecurity threats \u2013 INSIGHT EU MONITORING"},"content":{"rendered":"

EU Commission launches plan to counter AI-driven cybersecurity threats \u2013 INSIGHT EU MONITORING<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/ieu-monitoring.com\/editorial\/eu-commission-launches-plan-to-counter-ai-driven-cybersecurity-threats\/1245119?utm_source\\u003dieu-portal<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-07-07 15:37:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: ieu-monitoring.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points.
\n Strasbourg, 7 July 2026
\nThe European Commission has presented an Action Plan for a structured response to address the risks and harness the opportunities of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models for cybersecurity.
\nNew advanced AI models are redefining cybersecurity. AI can be misused to identify vulnerabilities, automate attacks and increase the scale and speed of cyber incidents at an unprecedented speed.
\nBuilding on the EU\u2019s unique legal framework for AI and cybersecurity, the Action Plan will bring together Member States, industry and EU-level organisations to strengthen the cybersecurity of our digital landscape against the vulnerabilities posed by advanced AI.
\nEvaluating AI models
\nEffective security requires a thorough understanding of how new technologies can be used, misused and exploited. Under the\u00a0AI Act, advanced AI models must be evaluated, and mitigation measures carefully assessed, before the models are placed on the EU market.
\nTo foster homegrown expertise, the Commission will launch a dedicated call to establish an EU evaluation capacity, covering cybersecurity, expected to be operational in 2027. This new capacity will contribute to the regulatory function of the AI Office by strengthening third-party assessment of AI capabilities and risks globally.
\nAccessing advanced AI models
\nEurope also needs clear and transparent conditions for accessing the most advanced AI systems.
\nThe Commission will work with the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) to define a European\u00a0blueprint for structured access to advanced AI capabilities for cybersecurity. This guidance will support relevant European public and private organisations in gaining access to advanced AI models.
\nTesting AI for cybersecurity
\nENISA and the Commission\u2019s\u00a0Joint Research Centre\u00a0will create a secure platform to test AI for cybersecurity, including using simulated environments. This will bring know-how on the safe use of AI to operators in critical sectors, such as finance, energy, health, transport and the public administration.
\nReinforcing the EU\u2019s cybersecurity and fixing vulnerabilities
\nThe EU must protect its critical infrastructure against the vulnerabilities arising from the potential misuse of these technologies.
\nAs foreseen by the EU\u2019s cybersecurity rules, organisations should intensify cyber hygiene practices, risk management measures, and security by design principles.
\nOrganisations should start using already available AI capabilities,\u00a0including through open-source models, to identify and fix vulnerabilities faster, as well as to prevent and to respond to cyberattacks.
\nTo assist organisations in this transition, ENISA will support and facilitate partnerships between public authorities, businesses and open-source communities in the cyber ecosystem. This will include guidance, recommendations and best practices as well as a campaign to secure Critical Open Source Software.\u00a0\u00a0
\nScaling European AI capabilities for cyber
\nTo stimulate the European market to scale up, the Commission will launch the EU Grand Challenge on AI for cybersecurity. This competition will bring together companies, researchers and organisations to develop AI solutions for cybersecurity.
\nThe EU must continue investing in developing its own sovereign advanced AI capabilities, leveraging the infrastructure provided by the\u00a0AI Factories and future Gigafactories. In this context, the upcoming European Tech equity capacity, announced in\u00a0the Tech Sovereignty Package, could crowd in private investment to scale up homegrown AI capabilities.
\nBackground
\nThe EU has a legal framework fit to address cybersecurity in the age of emerging tech, like AI. The AI Act requires to assess and mitigate risks from AI models while\u00a0the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice\u00a0further specifies these requirements and facilitates compliance by advanced model providers. These provisions will start to be enforced on 2 August 2026.
\nThe\u00a0Cyber Resilience Act, to be applicable by end of 2027, mandates security by design for hardware and software products. In addition, the\u00a0Network and Information systems, or NIS2, Directive aims to boost the security of critical sectors such as transport and energy, together with\u00a0Digital Operational Resilience Act\u00a0(DORA) for the financial sector. The\u00a0Cyber Solidarity Act\u00a0strengthens capacities in the EU to detect, prepare for and respond to significant and large-scale cybersecurity threats and attacks.
\nFor more information<\/p>\n

Quote
\nAI is transforming the meaning of cybersecurity. And we must keep pace. The EU has strong foundations in place to adapt its response in the face of vulnerabilities that emerging tech brings with it. We must harness and focus existing capabilities, networks and the legal framework to fortify the cybersecurity protecting our digital landscape.
\nHenna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
\nSource \u2013 EU Commission
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Remarks by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on the Action plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence
\nStrasbourg, 7 July 2026
\n\u201cCheck against delivery\u201d
\nAdvanced AI models create many possibilities. They can help us to prepare and protect but they can also be used against us.
\nAdvanced AI can create cyber exploits in just minutes or hours, for a fraction of the cost of human experts. While a major vulnerability can cost over 1 million EUR on the grey market, AI only needs data center compute power. Once weaponised, these flaws can endanger our infrastructure and society, which is built upon digital systems.
\nThe Commission\u2019s response has been immediate. We engaged with the entire AI and cybersecurity ecosystem: with Member States, with AI providers, with industry, and with our international partners.
\nWe are not starting from scratch. The EU already has robust legal and policy foundations to address these challenges. We are now turning them into action, capability, and resilience, along three priorities.
\nFirst, AI models with high cyber capabilities must be safe. And Europeans must have access to use them.
\nThrough the AI Act, the EU has the world\u2019s strongest framework to protect us from the potential risks of advanced AI. The Commission\u2019s AI Office is already working with AI companies to implement these rules.
\nUnder the AI Act, advanced AI models must be evaluated, and mitigation measures carefully assessed, before the models are placed on the EU market.
\nIn less than a month, the AI Office will have enforcement powers. Testing models before they are released is key to reducing risk. To build expertise, the EU will launch a call to boost its AI evaluation capacity\u2014especially in cybersecurity\u2014aiming to be operational by 2027.
\nThe EU Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA, will play an important role in operationalising this Action Plan, as well as some Member States.
\nTogether with ENISA, we will develop a European Blueprint for structured access to advanced AI models, with focus on cybersecurity.
\nThe Blueprint will support both AI providers and European organisations, including companies, on how to identify those who get access and on which terms. It will also serve as a basis for cooperation and alignment with international partners.
\nBut access is not enough. We must also strengthen our know-how on how to deploy these technologies for our cybersecurity, by testing their cyber capabilities.
\nThis is why the Commission will set up a secure platform to test AI for cybersecurity already by the end of 2026.
\nThe platform will allow us to assess how models can be used safely for cybersecurity operations in critical sectors such as finance, energy, health, transport or public administration.
\nSecond, we must also be able to protect ourselves against malicious attacks stemming from the misuse of such models.
\nOur immediate priority is clear: identify and fix the most critical vulnerabilities faster. The first step is the full and effective implementation of our cybersecurity legislation: the NIS2 Directive, DORA, and the Cyber Resilience Act.
\nThis applies to all member states \u2013 I want to take the opportunity to highlight the urgency of implementing especially the NIS2 directive.
\nBut we also need targeted action where exposure is the highest for our critical infrastructure. We will therefore launch a Critical Open Source Resilience Campaign, to support maintainers in fixing the most critical vulnerabilities in key open-source projects.
\nAI is not only a risk: it is also a strategic enabler of cyber resilience. Existing AI tools can already help with vulnerability management, threat detection, and incident response. We must support their safe and secure uptake across critical sectors, SMEs and public authorities. And we must do so fast.
\nThird, we must build Europe\u2019s own AI-powered cyber capabilities.
\nWe cannot rely only on non-European solutions for capabilities that are critical for our security.
\nBuilding up our own AI frontier models is costly, but in today\u2019s world, the cost of not building them will be even higher.
\nFrontier AI requires very large-scale investment, far beyond what public funding alone can provide. We need to mobilise private capital, and especially equity. The new European tech equity capacity announced in the Tech Sovereignty Package can be a game changer here.
\nEurope has what it takes to compete. We have the talent. We have a solid cybersecurity and AI ecosystem. We have AI Factories and, in the future, AI Gigafactories that can be part of a sovereign European infrastructure for AI and cybersecurity.
\nSource \u2013 EU Commission
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tPost navigation<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EU Commission launches plan to counter AI-driven cybersecurity threats \u2013 INSIGHT EU MONITORING https:\/\/ieu-monitoring.com\/editorial\/eu-commission-launches-plan-to-counter-ai-driven-cybersecurity-threats\/1245119?utm_source\\u003dieu-portal Publish…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[26,20,24,27],"class_list":["post-241137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cybersecurity","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-cybersecurity","tag-vulnerability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}