OSCE Transnational Threats Department co-organizes training course in Athens on enhancing cyber stability and co-operation in the Mediterranean region

Forty policymakers, technical officers and private sector representatives from ten OSCE participating States and Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation completed a two-day sub-regional training course in Athens on how international cyber/ICT security mechanisms can enhance regional cyber stability.

The training course held on 7 and 8 February 2019, was organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the National Cyber Security Authority of Greece’s Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications & Media.

The participants learnt about regional and global efforts to reduce the risk of conflict stemming from the use of ICTs, in particular, the Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) that have been developed by OSCE participating States. There was also a focus on encouraging representatives of OSCE participating States and the Mediterranean Partner States to build or strengthen ties with each other on confronting cyber/ICT security issues and exploring how these ties can be formalized through the OSCE as a platform.

On the first day, the training course featured multiple experts and discussion panels on the prevailing threats stemming from cyberspace in the region, the mechanisms that can be deployed to address them and how the Mediterranean Partners can be engaged in future OSCE cyber/ICT security efforts. The participants were joined by experts from Microsoft and the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).

On the second day, participants visited the premises of the EU Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) and took part in an OSCE-led scenario-based discussion. Through four stages of an escalating fictitious cyber/ICT incident, participants were asked to flesh out their national perspectives, mitigation and national co-ordination policies, give their views on international co-operation with affected and/or suspected states, and clarify what roles the OSCE, as a platform and guardian of the CBM process, can play.