Udo Helmbrecht

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ENISA Today and Future Plans

As the economic significance of cybersecurity grows and new and increasing threats are perceived in cyberspace, cybersecurity is attracting greater political interest in the EU and beyond. In view of its cross-border nature, cybersecurity transcends not only the boundaries of the physical world but also those between states. ENISA has a constructive and important contribution to make in the evolving EU cybersecurity landscape. This keynote speech will explain the development of ENISA’s mandate and role over time, starting with the inception of the Agency in 2004.

The trajectory of European policy and legislation in the past years seems to reflect that Network and Information Security (NIS) has started to occupy a high rung on the EU policy ladder. Examples of influential steps that were taken include the introduction of a European Cybersecurity Strategy in 2013 and the adoption of a NIS Directive in 2016, the first EU-wide cybersecurity law. Taking into account these developments, ENISA’s strategy prioritises: (1) Expertise, (2) Policy, (3) Capacity, (4) Community, and (5) Enabling.

With the Cybersecurity Package, which was announced by the Commission in 2017, the EU intends to further contribute to European resilience, deterrence and defence, and promote an EU-wide high level of cybersecurity. The Commission’s proposal for a Cybersecurity Act contains a new mandate for ENISA and presents a vision for a strengthened and reinforced Agency with a permanent mandate and adequate resources.

In his keynote, ENISA’s Executive Director will outline key aspects of the Commission’s proposal for ENISA and present a vision for the role and mandate of the Agency in the years to come, in particular with regard to evolving participation in community building, policymaking, capacity building and expertise.

Prof. Dr. Udo Helmbrecht

Prof. Dr. Udo Helmbrecht has more than 40 years of professional management experience in the IT sector.

Udo Helmbrecht was born in 1955, in Castrop-Rauxel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science at Ruhr-University, Bochum, and in 1984 he was awarded a PhD in Theoretical Physics. In 2010 Udo Helmbrecht was appointed honorary professor at the Universität der Bundeswehr Munich, Germany.

His experience in the field of security has been acquired through work in a variety of areas, including the energy industry, insurance, engineering, aviation, defence, and the space industry. He became the president of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in 2003.

Udo Helmbrecht took office as Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) in October 2009.

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