Experts of the NSDC Staff took part in an online seminar on critical infrastructure protection

On November 2-4, this year, a three-day theoretical and practical online seminar on critical infrastructure protection was held as part of cooperation between the NSDC Staff and the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF Global Ukraine) (with the support of the U.S. Department of State).

Over 140 representatives of state and regional authorities, as well as Ukraine’s largest operators of critical infrastructure, attended the seminar. 

The purpose of the event was to increase the general and professional level of knowledge in the field of critical infrastructure protection, to get acquainted with modern approaches of the United States, EU member states, and NATO to critical infrastructure protection.

The participants shared experiences and improved knowledge on security, protection and resilience planning for infrastructure security, physical and cyber threats assessment for critical infrastructure, CI supply chain management, analysis, assessment, and risk management for CI.

The participants also discussed the state and problems of the Ukrainian national system of critical infrastructure protection, shared views on plans and opportunities for developing education in the field of CIP/CISR, exchange of information and intelligence, building effective public-private partnerships. Attention was also paid to the issues of sectorial protection of vital infrastructure, in particular, energy, communications, transport, and water supply.

Moreover, emphasis was placed on the “five Cs”, indispensable for building and maintaining an effective national critical infrastructure protection program: coordination, collaboration, cooperation, communication, and concentration.

Leading international cybersecurity experts were involved in the workshop, including Nauset National Security Group LLC Executive Director Ronald Bears, F24 AG Senior Strategic Project Manager, Dr. Alessandro Lazari, Deputy Director of the NATO Center of Excellence Defense Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) in Ankara, Colonel Daniel W. Stone, co-founder of SimSpace Lee Rossey, Head of Incovate Solutions LLC Todd Inskeep, adviser at National Emergency Supply Agency of Finland Katri Liekkila, KPMG cybersecurity manager Martina Castiglioni.

The event became the second of the planned workshops on critical infrastructure protection in Ukraine. Training will continue in 2022.