Cyprus’ first ever national cybersecurity exercise ‘a success’

Cyprus’ first ever national cybersecurity exercise was a “success”, the communications commissioner’s office said on Thursday.

The exercise, named ‘CyberCyprus 2024’, took place on Wednesday, with the communications commissioner’s office describing it as “an important milestone for strengthening Cyprus’ readiness against ever increasing cyber threats”.

The exercise had been organised by the digital security authority in collaboration with the defence ministry and the research deputy ministry, with the support of the European Union agency for cybersecurity (Enisa).

Its main objective, the communications commissioner’s office said, was “the simulation of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure”, with particular emphasis being placed on the island’s transport sector.

Participating organisations were asked to deal with incidents in real time, with the aim of strengthening cooperation between public, semi-sate, and private organisations, while at the same time testing their processes for dealing with such matters.

The exercise allowed for the evaluation of the various organising parties’ reactions to incidents related to communication, crisis management, and interoperability between organisations, with the communications commissioner’s office saying this will “ensure their smooth operation during crisis situations” in the future.

The communications commissioner’s office said the exercise had “four main objectives”, the first of which was to improve the participants’ understanding of ransomware threats.

To do this, participants had the opportunity to study ransomware threats in depth, which in turn increased their ability to detect and react to them.

Additionally, the exercise also sought to strengthen response processes to cyber incidents, with procedures for cyber crisis and incident management being tested with the aim of improving operational standard procedures.

The third objective was the strengthening of inter-agency cooperation, with exercises highlighting and emphasising the improvement of cooperation between the various relevant parties.

The final objective was for the potential need for a national cyber crisis management plan to be devised by the government, which, the communications commissioner’s office said, would allow an overarching national response to large-scale cyber threats to be coordinated.

Concluding, the communications commissioner’s office said the exercise “lays a strong foundation for the continued development of cybersecurity processes and capabilities in Cyprus.”

“The exercise’s success is expected to significantly enhance the preparedness of the participating organisations, while the lessons learned will be used to upgrade capabilities to manage major cyber-attacks.

“The recommendations and improvements resulting from this exercise and subsequent evaluation will be incorporated into future initiatives and strategic plans, all of which will have the main goal of further strengthening national cybersecurity,” it said.