Centre Admits Ukraine as Contributing Participant

The steering committee of NATO’s Co-operative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) voted unanimously to admit Ukraine as a contributing participant during its 30th meeting last week.

The CCDCOE, based in Tallinn, Estonia, was established in 2008, following crippling cyber-attacks on Estonian banks and other national infrastructure providers, widely attributed to hackers backed by, or supportive of, the Russian state. The Centre already has a number of other non-NATO nations as contributing participants, including Sweden, Finland, South Korea and Switzerland.

“Ukraine’s presence in the Centre will enhance the exchange of cyber expertise between Ukraine and CCDCOE member nations,” stated the Centre’s Director, Col Jaak Tarien. “Ukraine could bring valuable first-hand knowledge of several adversaries within the cyber domain to be used for research, exercises and training.”

“Capability and knowledge comes from experience, and Ukraine definitely has valuable experience from previous cyber-attacks to provide significant value to the NATO CCDCOE,” added Estonia’s Defence Minister, Kalle Laanet. “Estonia as a Host Nation of the CCDCOE has been a long-term partner for Ukraine in enhancing its cyber security capacity and cyber resilience and we welcome the decision of the members of CCDCOE agreeing to Ukraine’s membership.”