INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: First Meeting of Estonian Cyber Defense Center

Published: Tue 3 Jun 2008 12:04 PM
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FM AMEMBASSY TALLINN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0659
INFO RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1235
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TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL NATO EN
SUBJECT: FIRST MEETING OF ESTONIAN CYBER DEFENSE CENTER
STEERING COMMITTEE
REF: A) Tallinn 54 B) Adkins-Garry emails
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Following the May 14 signature of a
Memorandum of Understanding in which they committed
formally to support Estonia's Cooperative Cyber Center
(CCD), the seven Sponsoring Nations met officially for the
first time in Tallinn May 29-30. This CCD "Steering
Committee" (SC) reviewed administrative issues, the draft
Program of Work for 2009, and Sponsoring Nations' (SNs)
interest in additional virtual participation from non-
member countries and institutions. The SC prioritized
cooperation with partners which are not sponsoring nations
(such as the U.S.), while recognizing that it may not be
feasible to work with all interested partners. The
Center's shared budget for 2009 will be 360,000 Euros.
Embassy Pol/Econ Chief was invited to attend the SC meeting
as an observer for the United States, demonstrating the
high level of interest among CCD Sponsoring Nations to see
the U.S. join the Center. End Summary.
2. (SBU) On May 29-30, the Steering Committee (SC) of the
Estonian Cooperative Cyber Defense Center (CCD) met
officially for the first time in Tallinn. Representatives
from the seven Sponsoring Nations (SNs) that signed the
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing the Center
on May 14 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Germany,
Italy and Spain) as well as one representative from NATO
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT)
participated. At the invitation of the Estonian Ministry
of Defense, Pol/Econ Chief attended the SC meeting as an
observer. (Note: As the U.S. is not a SN, the first item
of business for the SC was voting to allow a U.S. observer
to sit in on the meeting. End Note.)
3. (SBU) The agenda for the two days of meetings included
reviewing the text of the CCD concept paper (which expands
on the basic operational principles agreed in the MOU). It
also included discussion of specific administrative (job
descriptions, auditing, regulations, budget) and
substantive (the program of work for 2009, cooperation with
NATO and non-NATO partners) issues. Participants briefly
discussed the staffing structure of the CCD and the timing
of NATO accreditation, which is expected to take place by
late 2008/early 2009. The CCD Chief of Staff outlined the
shared budget (excluding administrative costs) for 2009
which will be 360,000 Euro (20,000 Euro per position). At
the conclusion of the meeting, SN representatives signed
off on a list of formal decisions (ref B email sent to
EUR/NB, EUR/RPM and USNATO).
4. (SBU) Two weeks prior to the SC meeting, NATO SACT
proposed 17 projects for inclusion in the 2009 Program of
Work (POW). The SC postponed project approval, determining
that more time was needed to review proposals and budget
requirements for each project. The Director tasked SNs to
submit national project proposals NLT June 20. The
Director will then send a revised draft POW to SC members
for review. The SC agreed to review and approve the 2009
POW at the next SC meeting scheduled for October 27-29 in
Tallinn.
5. (SBU) Post emailed the complete NATO SACT list of
proposals for the 2009 POW to EUR/NB, EUR/RPM and USNATO
(ref B). NATO SACT identified the following two projects
as "high priority":
-- Work with NATO Computer Incident Response Capability
(NCIRC) to develop standards of minimum information to be
shared between national Computer Security Incident Response
Teams (CSIRTs).
-- Provide technical and scenario support to NC3A in
shaping and executing a cyber defense exercise focused on
exercising the CERTS within NATO and NATO nations.
6. (SBU) There was an energetic discussion of cooperation
with "contributing partners" (e.g nations, organizations or
agencies that are not SNs.) SC members agreed that it
would be difficult to work with all of the interested
partners, at least initially. They also agreed that a
primary priority in choosing cooperation partners should be
meeting the overall goal of accomplishing the POW. The CCD
Director and several SNs expressed appreciation for U.S.
contributions to the CCD. Several participants commented
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that cooperation with non-NATO partners (e.g. Ukraine)
would be more complicated. One suggestion was to look at
cooperation in non-technical areas (like legal issues) with
these potential partners. Participants stressed the
importance of working with other COEs including Slovakia's
Explosive Ordinance Disposal COE, once it has been
accredited. The Director agreed to send proposals for
prioritizing cooperation together with the revised draft
POW to SNs NLT September 24 for review.
7. (SBU) The CCD Chief of Staff identified the following
list of potential (non-SN) partners interested in
cooperation with the CCD:
-- NATO nations (e.g. the United States)
-- Other NATO Centers of Excellence
-- Other NATO entities (NATO CDMA, NC3A)
-- Non-NATO nations (Sweden)
-- Other entities (Estonian CERT and CII, Swedish SEMA)
-- Academia (Estonian Technical University, NATO Post
Graduate School, Mason University)
-- International Organizations (European Defense Agency,
ICANN)
-- The private sector (SEB Bank).
8. (SBU) The Latvian representative also raised the issue
of virtual participation. As reported ref A, this issue
was discussed during MOU negotiations and it was agreed
that all SNs must have at least one person based at the CCD
in Tallinn. However, in addition to Latvia, other SNs
indicated an interest in the possibility of virtual
participation as an additional contribution to the Center.
The CCD Director committed to provide the SC with draft
proposals for additional participation by NLT June 30 (to
include a discussion of the financial implications of such
participation.)
9. (SBU) COMMENT: There are still many details to be
fleshed out before the CCD is really running at full-speed,
but they have made a good start. It is becoming apparent
that the CCD will have enormous value for its understanding
of, and contribution to, cyber law -- as just one issue.
They are setting themselves ambitious goals, not the least
of which is to cooperate as widely as possible so as to
weave a defensive cyber network that will link allies (and
Allies) and reinforce good cyber security. We continue to
believe that getting in on the ground floor of this
endeavor will give the USG a strong weapon (and shield) to
defend against cyber attack. END COMMENT.
10. (SBU) As an observer at this meeting, Pol/Econ Chief
was given copies of all materials provided to SC members
for this meeting. However, in the future, the SC plans to
share materials by posting them on the CCD website. Access
to the documents will require a password (provided to SNs
and NATO SACT only). The CCD website address is:
http://sivak.mil.ee/k5/
Phillips
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