The European Union strengthens Ukrainian cyber defence

With the European Peace Facility (EPF), the European Union is supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to upgrade their cyber defence skills. With a contribution of €3 million, the EU has supported the installation of a cyber lab and cyber classroom.

“Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression on Ukraine, the European Union has contributed to helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine to defend their cyberspace. The cyber lab, classroom, additional security software and hardware, and related trainings formed a comprehensive approach that has boosted Ukraine’s cyber defence capacity, and reinforced our cooperation on security and defence with Ukraine,” said Peter Wagner, the Director of European Service for Foreign Policy Instruments.

“I would like to express our gratitude to the EU for the assistance provided to the Armed Forces Ukraine in such a difficult and decisive period in the history of our country,“ said Brigadier General Dmytro Romanov, Chief of the Main Directorate of Communication and Cybersecurity of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

A cyber lab is an online environment for training, exercising and researching. Cyber lab technology enables the user to generate a realistic, capable, and credible virtual environment that requires trainees to respond to cyberattack and defence simulations in real time. Within the simulated network, members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine can better learn to cope under high levels of stress, locating and exploring vulnerabilities in various network systems.

The cyber classroom contains 15 workstations and the nessessary equipment for providing trainings and exercises on cyber defence related topics. The project has also procured, set up, installed and configured security hardware and software for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and conducted related trainings.

Within the last two years, the e-Governance Academy (eGA) has led the project activities. The cyber lab and related trainings were delivered jointly with the CybExer Technologies.

“eGA’s team and partners have worked hard to contribute to enhancing cyber defence of Ukraine and keep its digital society running government functional even during the war,” Hannes Astok, Executive Director of the e-Governance Academy. “We have witnessed very high motivation of the Ukrainian military professionals to obtain new digital skills and to use the provided equipment in defence of the Ukrainian cyberspace.”

Background information:

The European Peace Facility (EPF) support project “Assistance measure under the European Peace Facility to support Ukrainian Armed Forces-Cyber Defence Component” lasts from March 2022 to April 2024. The objective of the project is to increase the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s capability in cyber defence. The total cost of the cyber defence component is 3 million euros. e-Governance Academy from Estonia (EGA) is the implementing actor of the component.

For additional information, please contact Merle Maigre, Head of Cybersecurity Competence Centre, e-Governance Academy via merle.maigre@ega.ee