On February 7-8, the capital of Ukraine hosted the first Kyiv International Cybersecurity Forum 2024: “Resilience in Cyber Warfare”.
This time, the topic of cybersecurity brought together government and business representatives, the cyber community, technology companies, and leading industry experts.
The Forum was opened by Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. In his speech, he noted that the digitalized world requires serious cyber defense and emphasized that the implementation of Ukraine’s digital policy is essential for Ukraine’s national resilience, especially during the war with the Russian Federation, when the country’s high degree of digitalization helps to overcome the challenges posed by aggression. Oleksiy Myacheslavovych also announced the further development of cyber diplomacy: “In our country, I think, there will be a position of a cyber diplomat in the near future, because this is a very, very important area of the struggle for light in this world.”
Guests of the event were greeted during the official opening: Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Anton Demokhin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization, Kateryna Chernogorenko, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization, Michael Dignam, CEO of CRDF Global.
“Despite the ongoing war in cyberspace and in the real world, we have to promote two ideas. The first is resilience, the theme of the forum that has brought us together. Resilience reflects the strength and flexibility of a society in the face of adversity. Ukraine has shown the world what it means to be resilient in response to cyberattacks and during connection failures, and we are happy to learn from you. The second is digital solidarity. Threats and challenges in cyberspace provide us with unique opportunities and a sense of urgency to stand shoulder to shoulder with partners and allies, to build and strengthen ties, to act together, to be united with Ukraine,” said Nathaniel Fick, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Cyberspace, U.S. Department of State.
Representatives of the international cyber community also spoke at the Kyiv International Cybersecurity Forum, including: Johannek Belfort, Director for Security and Defense Policy at the European External Action Service, Johan Lepasar, Director of the EU Cyber Security Agency (ENISA), Mart Noorma, Head of NATO’s Joint Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE), Jen Easterly, Director of the US Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection Agency (CISA).
In total, the two days of the Forum featured 10 panel discussions and over 35 expert presentations covering a wide range of topics, including: the role of cybersecurity in modern warfare, Ukraine’s experience in cyber warfare, cyber warfare and international law, cyber diplomacy, strengthening the resilience of the national cybersecurity system through education, messenger security, the role of cyber threat intelligence, regional cybersecurity, and others.
As part of KICRF, a two-day cybersecurity competition Capture the Flag was held. Twenty-one teams took part, with a total of 121 specialists from the public and private sectors. According to the competition scenario, each team had to complete 6 challenging tasks that simulated real attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. At the end of the second day, the organizers and judges selected three winners (1st place: #dotxyz team, 2nd place: Pspatron team, 3rd place: Gos team) who received certificates for online training courses and winners’ cups.
The event also included a meeting between representatives of the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity (NCCC) and the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection (SSSCIP). The consultations resulted in an agreed work plan of cooperation for the next two years. The document contains more than 20 specific steps aimed at supporting Ukraine on its way to EU membership, harmonizing cybersecurity legislation, exchanging experts, etc.
Representatives of the Tallinn Mechanism also gathered in Kyiv as part of the International Cybersecurity Forum. They issued a joint statement by all the member states of the Tallinn Mechanism, which was established on December 20, 2023 and supported by Ukraine, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The mechanism aims to coordinate the efforts of the parties and promote capacity building in the field of cybersecurity. All this is to help Ukraine protect itself from Russian aggression in cyberspace and meet its long-term cyber resilience needs.
“As Russia’s destructive cyber operations and cyber activities are expected to continue for the foreseeable future, the partners of the Tallinn Mechanism are ready to continue their support for as long as necessary,” the statement reads.
The Forum’s organizing team plans to continue working on the project and aims to make this event a powerful annual platform for discussing cyber resilience issues.
The event was launched by the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity (NCCC) under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF Global). The Forum was supported by the U.S. Department of State.
The Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine joined the organization of the Forum.
Technology partners: Cyber Unit Technologies and the Institute for Cyber Warfare Research (ICWR).
Partners: Kóryos, Bakotech, Brave1, DC8044, CyberDiia, USF, Cyberlab.UA, UnderDefense, BugStream, Voda.ua.
General media partners: MC.today and ITC.UA.
Information partners: Interfax-Ukraine, Ukraine Business News, ArmyInform and SPEKA.
For more information about Kyiv International Cybersecurity Forum, please visit cyberforumkyiv.org.
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