Serhii Demediuk: Today, we are talking not about individual russian cyberattacks at Ukraine, but about the first world cyber war

We are enhancing the international cyber security cooperation.

On 26 October 2023, in Prague, the National Coordination Centre for Cybersecurity at the National Security and Defence Council jointly with the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation with the support from the U.S. Department of State held an international meeting of the National Cybersecurity Cluster “Public-Private Partnership at the International Level and Introduction of Cyber Diplomacy”.

Today, we are not talking about individual russian cyberattacks at Ukraine, but about the first world cyber war. To counter this war, we are forming an effective international cyber coalition”, – emphasised Deputy Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Serhii Demediuk in his opening speech.

He pointed out that Ukraine is already a member of NATO’s Joint Cyber Security Centre of Excellence, and is establishing close cooperation with the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).

“This opens the door to new opportunities for enhancing our cooperation in cybersecurity and sharing best practices with NATO and EU countries. We highly appreciate the assistance of our partner countries, in particular the Czech Republic, and we are grateful for their support. I am confident that we will preserve our unity and mutual trust, which russia is trying to undermine every day”, – stressed Serhii Demediuk.

For his part, Oleksandr Fedienko, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, noted that the National Cybersecurity Cluster is a platform for sharing experience and promoting profound relations between countries that may face cyber threats that Ukraine is fighting every day: “We have extensive experience and expertise in cybersecurity, so we are working on amendments to national legislation in line with the current matters and EU directives.”

During discussion panels, the participants discussed several topics, inter alia Ukraine and the global leading countries’ experience in cyber war, development of cyber diplomacy in Ukraine and worldwide, as well as public-private partnership to ensure global resilience in cyber space.

According to CRDF Global Regional Director in Ukraine Mykhailo Verych, since 2021, CRDF Global and the NCCC with the support from the U.S. Department of State have been holding regular coordination meetings of key stakeholders in cybersecurity domain.

«The participation of European partners in the discussion of key industry matters is an opportunity to exchange experience, and a step towards profound cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union”, – he said.

Overall, more than 250 representatives of the public sector, international and donor community, embassies and businesses took part in the meeting, which was held both online and offline. Among the key speakers at the event were Liesyl Franz, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Cyberspace Security, Pavel Stepanik, Deputy Director of the National Agency for Cybersecurity and Information Security of the Czech Republic (NUKIB), Tomáš Minárik, Acting Director of the Department of International Cooperation and the European Union at NUKIB, Richard Kadlčák, Ambassador for Cybersecurity at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Kaja Siglíč, Head of Cyber Diplomacy at Microsoft, Manon Le Blanc, EEAS Cybersecurity Coordinator, George Jokhadze, Manager of the Council of Europe and EU CyberEast project, Project Manager of the Council of Europe and EU CyberEast Project Office, as well as representatives of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, and such companies as Cyber Unit Technologies, ICZ Group, and CNS.