Cyberspace is a new world in which nations need to cooperate more than ever before, emphasized a briefing to Federal Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. She was given an overview of cyber security at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence as part of her visit to Estonia today.
“Germany is a founding nation of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. Chancellor Merkel’s government demonstrated its commitment to cyber security already in 2008 by becoming a major contributor to the Centre and providing a number of researchers and a chief of staff to us,” said Sven Sakkov, director of the Tallinn-based think tank and training facility.
“All nations are facing increasing challenges ranging from applying legislation to cyberspace to protecting their own networks. No future conflict between advanced adversaries is likely to be fought without a cyber element,” the director emphasized.
“Germany, as many other nations, is building up cyber capabilities. This is a new world in which international cooperation between Allies is more important than ever,” Sakkov noted highlighting that the Bundeswehr building up a cyber unit.
The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (NATO CCD COE) is a NATO-accredited knowledge hub, think-tank and training facility. The international military organisation focuses on interdisciplinary applied research and development, as well as consultations, trainings and exercises in the field of cyber security.
The heart of the Centre is a diverse group of international experts, including legal scholars, policy and strategy specialists as well as technology researchers with military, government and industry backgrounds.
Membership of the Centre is open to all Allies. Currently, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States have signed on as Sponsoring Nations of the Centre. Austria and Finland have become Contributing Participants – the status available for non-NATO nations.
