Justice Ministers of the European Union on Friday approved a Framework Decision on "attacks against information systems" – an attempt to update and harmonise Europe's laws on dealing with hacking and other IT-related crimes.

The Council wrote:

"The objective of this Framework Decision is to improve co-operation between judicial and other competent authorities, including the police and other specialised law enforcement services of the Member States, through approximating rules on criminal law in the Member States in the area of attacks against information systems."

It added that significant gaps and differences in Member States' laws in this area amper the fight against organised crime and terrorism.

Attacks against information systems are addressed in page 19 of the 27-page report of Friday's Council meeting. It can be downloaded from:
http://ue.eu.int/pressData/en/jha/74719.pdf

The text of the Framework Decision approved on Friday is not yet available on-line. It is not yet clear if or how it differs from an earlier version, adopted by the Commission in April 2002. The text of the April 2002 document is available as a 25-page PDF.

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