You win some, you lose some. Two weeks ago, the European Network and Information Security Agency trumpeted the exciting news “ENISA stays on Crete”, saying that the agency would continue to fight the good fight against cyber-crime and other evils from its base in the Cretan city of Heraklion.
The small print showed that after consultations with Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for the digital agenda, and the Greek government, it has been agreed that, although the offices of the executive director of ENISA, Udo Helmbrecht, and the agency's administrative staff will remain in Heraklion, more of the agency's operational staff – the cyber-crime busters and the geeks – can be based in Athens. In theory, that agreement should help recruitment, since ENISA's experience was that it was difficult to persuade people to relocate to Crete.
This was good news to take into October, which, you may not have noticed, has been designated European Cyber Security Month. ENISA's activities include such delights as co-ordinating 300 cyber-security professionals to counter “a massive simulated cyber-attack” last Thursday (4 October).
Sadly, the European Union's civil service tribunal refuses to join in the cyber fun. It marked European Cyber Security Month by issuing a judgment against ENISA in a case brought by Aristidis Psarras, who used to be its accountant. Early in 2009, he agreed a professional leave of absence with the agency for a year, but three weeks before he was to return ENISA's management board appointed someone else in his stead, then reassigned him to new duties.
The tribunal found against ENISA and annulled those decisions. Perhaps this was not such a positive message for recruitment.
? Cyber attack might be unnecessarily sophisticated for Athens: Greek airspace was closed to airplanes for a few hours on 29 September because the radar “shut down”. The problem was reported in the Greek press as caused by a child's stray balloon – metallic and filled with helium. Inflation is a worry for more than the Greek economy.
