NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence grows to 25 members

NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) celebrates today the accession of four new members – Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway and Romania – with a special flag-raising ceremony at the CCDCOE. This enlargement makes the CCDCOE in Tallinn, Estonia, the biggest among 25 NATO-accredited centres of excellences.

In eleven years, we have grown from seven founding members to the 25-nations-strong cyber defence hub with prominent world-renowned flagships. We are glad to see so many new nations lining up to join our expert community, it shows that in cyber defence, the co-operation among like-minded countries has become inevitable,“ said Col Tarien, director of the multinational interdisciplinary hub of cyber defence expertise.

“The fact that more and more nations are joining up to actively contribute to the advancement of cyber security reflects the need for improved capabilities in the cyber domain. Increased global connectivity and technological development means that we have to be ready for any type of cyber threat and bring our capabilities up to date. Tackling cyber threats that our democracies are facing demand expert knowledge and skills, which are reinforced by close cooperation between Allies and Partners,” said Col Tarien.

The Centre continues to attract new members: Japan, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Switzerland are in the process of joining the CCDCOE. In addition, Luxembourg and Australia have announced their intention of accession.

Founded in 2008, NATO CCDCOE is a NATO-accredited international military organisation supporting its member nations and NATO with cyber defence expertise in the fields of technology, strategy, operations, and law. The heart of the Centre is a diverse group of experts: researchers, analysts, trainers, educators. The mix of military, government and industry backgrounds enables the Centre to provide a unique 360-degree approach to cyber defence.

NATO CCDCOE is the home of the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations. The Centre also organises the world’s largest and most complex international technical cyber defence exercise Locked Shields. Annual Conference on Cyber Conflict CyCon, organized by CCDCOE, brings regularly together more than 600 experts.

The Centre is staffed and financed by its sponsoring nations and contributing participants, altogether 25 countries as of today. Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States are signed up as Sponsoring Nations of NATO CCDCOE. Austria, Finland and Sweden are Contributing Participants, a status eligible for non-NATO nations.

https://ccdcoe.org/news/2019/nato-cooperative-cyber-defence-centre-of-excellence-grows-to-25-members/