The Cluster team continues the practice of offsite meetings of the platform, as this step helps to establish communication between central and regional authorities. Meetings at the local level are a unique opportunity to understand the cybersecurity needs of the regions better, taking into account their specifics and economic focus.
This time, the center of the cyber dialog was Poltava Oblast, the region where a large share of the country’s industrial sector is concentrated. The 20th anniversary meeting of the Cluster was dedicated to cyber defense in this area.
The event was highlighted by the first regional tabletop exercise (TTX), which helped local authorities and key enterprises to implement responding scenarios in case of cyber threats.
“Poltava is an important region, with the industrial sector being one of the leading budget-forming components of the national economy. Under these conditions, further development of cyber defense of industrial enterprises and government agencies in the region becomes an extremely important process. That is why, for the first time in its history, the Cluster had a practical part preceding the meeting. Today, the Cluster is an opportunity to improve coordination, expand dialogue, share best practices and cases, and most importantly, provide a tool that will create an important link in the cyber defense system,” said Mykhailo Verych, Senior Operations Manager at CRDF Global in Ukraine.
More than 200 partners of the platform joined the discussion both in person at Yurii Kondratiuk Poltava Polytechnic and online. Representatives of the public sector, the international donor community, business, and the academic community took part in the dialogue.
The issues of cyber defense at the regional level and the specifics of cybersecurity of industrial enterprises were considered from the point of view of the state approach at the central and local levels (the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, Poltava Regional Military Administration, Naftogaz), the private sector, and best international practices (the US Department of State’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency).
“This year, for the first time, the NCSCC is introducing the practice of conducting regional tabletop exercises (TTX) on cybersecurity. On the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the TTX helped to develop a mechanism of interaction in response to cyberattacks and to make the necessary decisions of the NCSCC. All cybersecurity actors were prepared, and Ukraine responded to large-scale cyberattacks in a coordinated manner, which minimized their consequences. So now we will promote this successful experience across the country,” said Nataliia Tkachuk, Head of the Information Security and Cybersecurity Service of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), Secretary of the National Cybersecurity Coordination Center (NCSCC).
An important component of the meeting was a review of the needs of the Poltava Regional Military Administration and regional industrial enterprises.
Part of the discussion also focused on addressing questions and requests from participants. The meeting’s partners outlined opportunities to address these needs in the cyber sector, provided useful advice, and established potential partnerships.
The Cluster’s team is extremely grateful to Poltava Regional Military Administration and National University “Yurii Kondratiuk Poltava Polytechnic” for their active support of cybersecurity development and fruitful dialogue.
Background:
The National Cybersecurity Cluster is a joint coordination effort of the NCSCC at the NSDC of Ukraine and Representation of U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation in Ukraine, CRDF Global, with the support of the U.S. Department of State. The platform unites key Ukrainian and international players in the sphere of cybersecurity and related areas to address key needs of the cyber community in Ukraine.
