BRUSSELS and HERAKLION, Greece, May 12, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The EU Agency, ENISA, (European Network and Information Security Agency) launches comprehensive study: European countries are highly varied in how prepared they are for dealing with the cybercrime, attacks and network resilience. This is a key finding of an updated and extended 2nd edition of 'Country Reports', published today. The Reports provide a comprehensive 750 pages-plus overview of the status of Network and Information Security [NIS] in 30 European Countries, including identification of stakeholders and trends.

A key finding of the Reports, conducted for ENISA by Deloitte, is that there is no particular pattern in the observed European countries with respect to the existence of a national NIS strategy. Yet, many countries are found to be putting major efforts into making progress in this area. Information exchange mechanisms and cooperation amongst key stakeholders also vary from country to country. Successful cases of NIS - in areas such as security incident management and reporting, risk management and emerging risks, network resilience, privacy and trust, and awareness raising - are outlined as inspiration for others.

As such, the Country Reports offer a unique overview of NIS state of the art in the 27 EU Union Member States and the 3 EEA countries [Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway]. Each Report outlines the country's NIS strategy, regulatory framework and key policy measures, key stakeholders and their mandate, role and responsibilities. They provide an overview of the key NIS activities, key stakeholders interactions, information exchange mechanisms, co-operation platforms, and country-specific facts, trends, good practices and inspiring cases.

The Country Reports are complemented by an updated Who-is-Who Directory on NIS, which serve as a yellow pages of NIS in Europe, containing contacts, websites and short descriptions of national and European authorities, CERTs, private sector and academic organisations active in NIS, as well as international and pan-European Organisations working in the area.

The Executive Director of ENISA, Dr Udo Helmbrecht comments:

The media often report information security incidents. But individuals, organisations and policy makers often don't know how to prevent incidents, or where to turn to when things go wrong. ENISA has done a comprehensive job in mapping the security situation in Europe through these Country Reports and Who-is-Who Directory. This is of course key for all policy makers in the EU. We hope it will also help citizens and organisations in Europe understand what to do when they're faced with problems.

For Updated Country Reports http://www.enisa.europa.eu/act/sr/country-reports

The updated Who-is-Who Directory on NIS-Edition 2010 is soon available at: http://www.enisa.europa.eu/act/sr/nis-brokerage-1.

SOURCE: ENISA - European Network and Information Security Agency

CONTACT: For interviews: Ulf Bergstrom, Spokesman, ENISA,press@enisa.europa.eu, Mobile: +30-6948-460143, Silvia Portesi, Expert inStakeholder Relations, Silvia.Portesi@enisa.europa.eu, Ulrike Lechner,Expert in Stakeholder Relations, Ulrike.Lechner@enisa.europa.eu