This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.
New information and communication technologies such as the
Internet have become a very volatile target of new forms of terrorist
acts. Given the high dependence of our societies in Europe on such
technologies, cyber terrorism, in the form of large-scale attacks
on and through computer systems, represent a severe threat to state’s
national security, public safety or economic well-being.
Individual measures have been pursued by some States nationally
and internationally, such as the creation of the European Cybercrime
Centre of Europol as well as the NATO Computer Incident Response
Capability project and the NATO Cooperative CyberDefence Centre
of Excellence.
At the same time, human rights and fundamental freedoms must
not be compromised by such measures, as has shown the recent debate
about the PRISM surveillance programme by the USA.
The Parliamentary Assembly should support and guide Council
of Europe member States in reinforcing their action and co-operation
against cyberterrorism and other large-scale attacks on the Internet.