I recently read Jen Easterly’s article “The End of Cybersecurity: America’s Digital Defenses Are Failing.” which made me reflect deeply.
It’s a powerful and honest reflection. And while her focus is on the U.S., her message goes far beyond borders. We are all at a turning point. AI brings incredible opportunities to strengthen our digital defenses, however it also empowers those who seek to exploit them.
This dual reality reminds me that we cannot stay still. We need to keep learning, adapting, and building resilience, every single day. And it starts with something very concrete, secure code.
Some people may say, “We don’t have secure code bases.” My answer is simple: then let’s start building them.
It’s not something we solve overnight, but every step matters, each audit, each secure pattern, each shared repository.
Security is not a product, it’s a discipline. And like every discipline, it grows through persistence and collaboration.
Across the world, initiatives such as the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) are showing how collaboration and transparency can make open source software more trustworthy and secure by design.
This is especially important today, when AI systems are being trained on massive code bases, the more secure the foundation, the stronger the future we can build together.
This also makes me reflect on Europe’s path.
How can we, as the European Union, strengthen our collective digital defense?
ENISA has already been promoting the principles of “secure by design” and “secure by default” for years, but perhaps now is the moment to take it further.
Could this be the time for closer cooperation between Member States, institutions, and agencies to turn those principles into a truly shared and operational reality across Europe?
Europe has the knowledge, the expertise, and the values to lead by example.
We just need to move forward, together, with trust, determination, and a clear sense of purpose.
The road ahead will not be easy, but step by step, one decision at a time, we can strengthen Europe’s digital resilience together.
Security is not something we buy. It’s something we build, together.
#CyberSecurity #DigitalEurope #ENISA #SecureByDesign #Resilience #AI #TrustInDigital #OpenSSF #TeamEurope