EU Council Imposes First-Ever Sanctions against Cyber Attacks
Time 1 Minute Read

On July 30, 2020, the Council of the European Union (the “Council”) imposed for the first time restrictive measures against six individuals and three entities responsible for or involved in various cyber attacks, including the “WannaCry,” “NotPetya” and “Operation Cloud Hopper” attacks and the attack against the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Sanctions imposed by the Council include a travel ban, an asset freeze and a prohibition against making funds available to the sanctioned EU individuals and entities.

Sanctions are one of the tools available to the Council in the Framework for a Joint EU Diplomatic Response to Malicious Cyber Activities (the “framework”), also known as the “cyber diplomacy toolbox,” which was adopted by the Council in May 2019. The framework allows the EU to impose targeted restrictive measures to deter and respond to cyber attacks. In particular, the framework allows the EU to impose sanctions on individuals or entities responsible for or involved in, e.g., by providing financial, technical or material support, (attempted) cyber attacks. This is the first time these sanctions have been used.

Read the press release.

You May Also Be Interested In

Time 2 Minute Read

On November 17, 2025, the Council of the European Union adopted new rules designed to strengthen cooperation among national data protection authorities, enhancing the enforcement of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

Time 2 Minute Read

On January 21, 2025, the Council of the EU adopted the European Health Data Space Regulation.

Time 3 Minute Read

On October 10, 2024, the Council of the European Union adopted the EU’s new regulation on horizontal cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements.

Time 2 Minute Read

On October 18, 2022, the European Commission published a report, titled Information Frictions and Public Policies: Approaching the Regulation and Supervision of Decentralized Finance (“DeFi”) (the “Report”). The Report discusses the need to adapt existing policy frameworks to account for the change brought about by DeFi to the underlying information structure upon which financial services are provided. Unlike traditional finance, DeFi applications provide financial services based on blockchain technology, i.e., without requiring any intermediary agent and instead relying on automated protocols that are encoded in public digital contracts universally accessible and maintained by an open pool of pseudonymous miners.

Search

Subscribe Arrow

Recent Posts

Categories

Tags

Archives

Jump to Page