The new European Network Information and Security Agency (ENISA), has an Executive Director, Italian Andrea Pirotti, and internal rules of procedure; and is seeking to recruit staff.
ENISA says its mission is to help deliver EU-wide standards of security in electronic communications, and to build the “culture of security” necessary for the European single market. After an initial setting-up period in Brussels, ENISA’s permanent seat will be in Heraklion, on the Greek island of Crete. ENISA has a budget of 34.3 million euros for five years. www.enisa.eu.int
Technical staff will be appointed by Executive Director Andrea Pirotti, in accordance with rules set out on the ENISA web site. The management board has also elected a Finn, Ms Kristiina Pietikainen, as its chairperson, and a Hungarian, Ferenc Suba, as its vice-chairperson. The proposal to establish ENISA was approved by the EU Council of Ministers
and European Parliament in November 2003. Mr Pirotti, an Italian national, has been Vice-President of Marconi Communications since 2002. He joined Marconi in 1976, and set up various overseas companies in the Marconi communications group. He was also in charge of technology projects for critical IT infrastructure, which involved managing and defining security policies and start-up activities, in Europe, Asia and Brazil. Mr Pirotti was nominated by ENISA’s Management Board, from a list proposed by the Commission. He was formally appointed after making a statement to the European Parliament and replying to MEPs’ questions on October 6. Mr Pirotti will be assisted by a permanent stakeholder group and ad hoc working groups on scientific and technical matters.
Ms Pietikainen is director of an e-commerce and data security unit in the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications, and Mr Suba heads a department in Hungary’s Ministry of Informatics and Communications. ENISA has a budget of 34.3 million euros for five years, covering staff, administrative and technical support, infrastructure and operational expenses resulting from contracts with third parties. It reports that its core tasks are to: collect and analyse data on security incidents in Europe and emerging risks; advise and assist the Commission and the member states on information security and in their dialogue with industry to address security-related problems in hardware and software; promote risk assessment and risk management methods to enhance capability to deal with information security threats, and raise awareness and co-operation among actors in the information security field, notably by developing public and private partnerships in this field.
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