The European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service, presented to national cyber experts a plan to sanction foreign hackers if they target the upcoming EU elections. The “cyber sanctions” would allow EU countries to penalise hacker groups that attempt to gain access to IT systems, whether they succeed or not. The rules would allow the European Union to finally flex its economic muscle against the rising threat of foreign cyber security attacks. The measures would target individual hackers as well as state-linked groups with commercial bans and financial restrictions.