“Cyber Shield 19” EX

The first session of the Coordination for Homeland Security System on 27 March 2019 was held  concurrently with the exercise “Cyber Shield 19”.

The session was attended by the members of the Coordination headed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Damir Krstičević as Chairman,  and by representatives of other institutions as observers.

Minister Krstičević emphasised that the Homeland Security System achieved good results in its first year, and led to improved functioning of the responsible government bodies and the local government.  
“The functioning of the system is evident in better planning and prevention and quicker response, and most importantly, in absence of human casualtires and reduced material damage during the past season, particularly in the flood and fire fighting actions”. The Minister also said that the partnership for security was crucial for successful protection of Croatia’s success of preserving the security of the Croatian state, strengthening the partnership for security .

“Cyber Shield 19”

Cyber Shield 2019 is a simulation exercise recreating a cyber attack scenario; the key decision makers at the national level  gathered in the Coordination for Homeland Security System were able to test the functioning of the crisis management system.

The main authority of the Exercise was the Ministry of Defence’s CIS Sector, and the Exercise Director was Colonel Bruno Bešker.  The conducting authority was the Main Planning Group, gathering the representatives of the Office of the President of the Republic, of the Office of the Prime Minister, of the National Security Council, of the Security Intelligence Agency, and of the Military Security Intelligence Agency, of the Information Systems Security Bureau, of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Computing and of the Croatian Armed Forces.  
Colonel Bešker underlined the significant  measures of cyber security introduced under the new Cyber Security Act in 2019 (the recognition of providers of key services, the criteria for identifying incidents with large impact, the obligations of the responsible units, the significant impact incident resolution procedure and the reporting procedure).

“Cyber Shield“ is a table-top Exercise, with participants jointly solving  common problems; they analysed a few potentially malicious activities according to the designed scenario, followed by decision making to reduce the harm inflicted incurred  by the activities.

The participants and the observers commended the organisation and conduct of the Exercise, and concluded that it was an important step towards the end objective – the synergy of all components of the homeland security system.

Raising the awareness on cyber security

The session of the Coordination for Homeland Security indicates a growing number of stakeholders in the homeland security system. The main objective of Cyber Shield 19 is to raise awareness of cyber security, with the emphasis on the providers of key services, and of digital services, the responsible sector units and the unified national point of contact and the serices in charge of prevention and protection from incidents.
“We have  to be aware of the changed global  security paradigm that reflects on our environment. One of today’s most serious threats are frequent  cyber attacks on critical national infrastructure, and we need to prepare for a whole spectrum of potential threats and risks, cyber attacks included”, said the Minister.

 

Establishment of Cyber Space Command 

In view of the growing risk of cyber attacks and the necessity to upgrade the components of the homeland security system Minister Krstičević underlined the importance of the establishment of the Cyber Space Command as a new strategic capability for Croatia, which will introduce Croatia into the Fourth Dimension of Warfare. 

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