European Union officials have expressed their deep concerns about the wave of internet attacks set out to incapacitate government websites all over Europe.

Andrea Pirotti, executive director of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), said that the challenge to stand up to the attacks has been successfully met so far and their efforts should continue at a similar pace, if not with even more determination.

"There is a continuous struggle between the attackers and the increases in protection of information systems. It's a contest," Pirotti told Reuters, adding that the attacks must be prevented from becoming a digital 9/11.

The annual 8 million euro-budget of the ENISA and its 50-member staff seem hardly enough for a proper security strategy and will soon require many more resources in order to offer the results needed.

The agency handles the activity of national cyber security divisions in the 27 EU member nations and its attributions do not include any sort of arrest missions or prosecution of cyber terrorism and cyber crime. Its assignments concern the investigation of certain issues, assistance in the event of problems and the constant look out for new ways to strengthen the cyber defense.

Last year’s events, when Estonia was the victim of several cyber attacks, led to an increased effort from the European governments to boost the security measures for their Internet divisions, as the government attacks, blackmailing and hacking have become very profitable and tempting activities.

Andrea Pirotti also added that the era of young hackers messing with cyber security just to prove their abilities has come to an end and from this point on, the Internet attacks should be considered extremely dangerous for national security.