The EU is looking to get tough on cybercrimes.
Technocrats representing the EU’s 28 governments yesterday met in Brussels to discuss expanding the bloc’s sanctions regime to punish companies, states and individuals involved in cybercrimes, adding to signs of increasing alarm about alleged Chinese and Russian activity targeting Western networks.
An internal memo circulated before the meeting of the EU’s working group on cyber issues, and seen by Bloomberg, lists data breaches, intellectual property theft, attacks on information technology infrastructure and stealing of classified information among the offenses punishable with asset freezes and travel bans.
The discussion follows a decision by EU leaders to develop a so-called Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox and amid ever more frequent warnings from Washington to its allies that they should think twice before using equipment from companies such as China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為).
The new regime “could target those involved in these types of cyber activity anywhere, regardless of their nationality and location,” with EU-wide sanctions, according to the internal EU memo dated Feb. 6.
The process will be part of the EU’s common foreign and security policy, meaning that unanimity would be required before any punitive action is triggered.
The sanctions are intended as a response to actions with significant impact on European security, attributed to other individuals or legal entities, such as companies.
The punishable offenses include theft of funds, major data breaches, data interception, large-scale intellectual property theft, attacks on critical network infrastructure, theft of classified information, attacks on information systems used for elections and hacking of commercially sensitive data.
The EU could apply the sanctions even as a response to attacks against allied countries, and not on European soil.
After all, it is intended as a foreign policy tool.
Punishable actions do not need to cause significant harm. Even attempts that fail may be subject to retribution.
Proposed measures include travel bans and asset freezes for companies.
Like US sanctions, European measures could apply globally, even if a company does not hold assets inside the bloc. The freeze forbids the use of any resources available subject to EU law, including transactions with European banks and other institutions.
Finally, the decision to apply the sanctions must be accompanied by evidence, defensible at the European Court of Justice, as those targeted may appeal the decision, according to the memo.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
RSS