European Council extends sanctions against foreign threat actors

European Council extended for one year the sanctions against foreign threat actors that threaten the European Union and its member states.

The European Council announced that it will extend for one year the framework for sanctions against threat actors that launched cyberattacks against the infrastructure of the European Union and its member states.

The Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/797 was established on May 17, 2019, it allows member states to invoke EU-wide sanctions against threat actors that carried out cyberattacks against their governments or the EU.

The sanctions against foreign hackers from China, Russia, and North Korea have been extended until May 18, 2022.

The European Council already sanctioned eight individuals and four entities. The authorities froze their assets, imposed a travel ban, and forbidden the transfer of funds from any EU entities to sanctioned entities.

In July 2020, for the first-ever time, the EU imposed economical sanctions on Russia, China, and North Korea following cyber-attacks aimed at the EU and its member states.

The EU Council announced sanctions imposed on a Russia-linked military espionage unit, as well as companies operating for Chinese and North Korean threat actors that launched cyber-attacks against the EU and its member states.

In October 2020, the Council of the European Union announced sanctions imposed on Russian military intelligence officers, belonging to the 85th Main Centre for Special Services (GTsSS), for their role in the 2015 attack on the German Federal Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag).

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, European Union)

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