Defence`s Feeds

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The third Strategic Decision Making Course & Exercise on Cyber Crisis Management within the framework of the European Defence Agency (EDA) takes place in Vienna from the 14th to 16th September 2015. The event is a joint initiative of the EDA, the European Cyber Security Initiative (Estonia), the Austrian Ministry of Defence and the Austrian Ministry of Interior. Forty representatives from the Austrian Federal Chancellery, the Ministries of Interior, Justice, European and International Affairs, Defence and Sports as well as from seven private companies participate in the exercise which is hosted at the Austrian Defence College. The exercise is also observed by 40 national and international cyber security experts.

The main aim of the exercise is to prepare strategic leaders to deal with cyberspace crisis management processes in complex situations and to promote a cyber security and cyber defence strategic culture. It also concentrates on stimulating national synergies and to foster EU member states cooperation. 

The exercise set-up includes presentations as well as a decision-making exercise and an in-depth feedback session. The exercise audience is confronted with a customised fictional political scenario where a crisis situation outside  EU boundaries spills back to an EU member state, here Austria. Manifestations of this spill over are an escalating sequence of targeted cyber-attacks of different degree of severity which are affecting both Austrian public and private sector entities, including national critical infrastructures such as telecommunications and Internet service providers, the energy sector, water supply and the public health care sector;all of this has had an impact on the public up to the level of casualties. The exercise audience is asked to apply the existing Austrian legal and political framework to the escalating scenario. At the same time participants must react to the population’s perception of the situation and to maintain public order. The exercise is following a playbook of more than 200 pages. 

Cyber defence – a key capability

The previous two cyber defence exercises for decision-makers were organised in Portugal in May 2014 and Prague in June 2015. The initiative is part of the EDA’s cyber defence work strand which among others aims at improving training, education and exercises opportunities as highlighted in the "Cyber Defence Policy Framework" which was adopted by the European Council in November 2014. 

"The 2013 EDA landscaping study on cyber defence capabilities among EDA member states revealed a need for harmonised cyber training for decision makers. The present course and exercise are the direct result of this study. The courses are constantly being improved according to participant’s feedback to ensure that our offer corresponds with Member State’s needs", said Peter Round, Director Capability, Armament & Technology at the European Defence Agency.

Background

Cyber defence is the military dimension of cyber security. The military requirements are to prepare for, prevent, detect, respond to, recover from and learn lessons from attacks, damage or un-authorized access originated from cyber space affecting systems and services that support and enable military tasks and operations. 

In the EDA’s capability development plan, cyber defence is one of the priority actions. A project team of EDA and its participating Member States' representatives is responsible for jointly developing cyber defence capabilities within the EU common security and defence policy (CSDP). A network of EDA and Member States research & technology experts support this work by collaborative activities delivering the required technologies at the right time. All of this is positioned next to existing and planned efforts by civil communities (national and EU institutions) and NATO. Given that threats are multifaceted, a comprehensive approach is taken, seeking to enhance synergies between the civilian and military domains in protecting critical cyber assets.

 

More information

• News "Cyber defence exercise for decision makers" (22 June 2015)
• Cyber defence project page
  
  

On September 16th , Mr. Zoran Jolevski, Minister of Defence of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia visited EDA’s Chief Executive at EDA headquarters. During the visit Minister Jolevski expressed the interest of his country to cooperate closely with the Agency in the future. Jorge Domecq thanked Minister Jolevski and outlined the process on how Third Parties may cooperate with EDA.

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Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) continue to cause significant casualties in operations as well as in civil surroundings. Therefore, countering them remains a priority for all participating Member States. There are situations where the use of normal explosives ordnance disposal procedures is inappropriate due to the operational situation, and Manual Neutralisation Techniques – a last resort of Commanders - might be required to counter the threat. On 8 September, Austria and the European Defence Agency organised the second Distinguished Visitors day during the margins of Exercise “European Guardian 2015” at the Austrian Logistics School facilities of Vienna, Austria.

Forty participants from Austria, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Republic of Serbia, Sweden, and UK, attended the Distinguished Visitors’ Day of the European Guardian 2015 Manual Neutralisation Techniques Courses & Exercises programme. Representatives from EUROPOL and the C-IED Centre of Excellence also took part in the event. 

The day was presided over by the Austrian Armed Forces Capabilities Director Brigadier General Peter Resch and the EDA Capability, Armament & Technology Director, Peter Round. Both recognised the relevance of the programme and insisted on the need to continue to develop it in the future. 

A live demonstration, executed by an MNT specialists team, was staged in the margins of the meeting. The demonstration consisted of the disposal of an IED which held a chemical payload and several complex initiation systems. Attendees not only had the opportunity to witness all MNT teams immersed in their tasks but also to discuss their activity and the latest innovations in MNT kits. 

Attendees discussed their expectations of the programme during their visit to the specific “urban” simulated training area. It was generally agreed that one of the most relevant take away points was that MNT operators are highly trained and few in number, and that given the high degree of specialisation needed, frequent refresher training of MNT operators was considered crucial. To that end, the Manual Neutralisation Techniques Courses & Exercises programme is extremely valuable. The next milestone within the programme will be the first one week MNT refresher course to be held in November 2015 at the Austrian Logistics School.

 

More information:

• Manual Neutralisation Techniques Courses and Exercises (MNTCE) project page

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