Praiseworthy performance by security authorities in national cyber exercise

A government-level cyber coordination group led by National Cyber Security Director Rauli Paananen has praised the cyber expertise of Finnish security authorities after taking part in the KYHA national cyber security exercise in September.

The competence of the authorities has kept pace with the annually increasing number and level of cyber security threats. The security authorities demonstrated their cyber skills in an annual national cyber exercise arranged by Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences (JAMK).

"The outcome of the national cyber exercise in September indicates an excellent standard of cybersecurity expertise in the security authorities. The complex, multi-operator threat scenarios prepared for the exercise were effectively identified and countered," reports JAMK IT Institute Director Tero Kokkonen.

A wide range of skills are needed when responding to cyber threats

Responding to cyber threats requires increasing expertise as attack methods evolve and diversify. Technical threats are often also combined with public influencing operations.

"Information influencing is increasingly a factor in cyber attacks. This means that the attack goes beyond the technical level and also seeks to influence the target in other ways. Examples include efforts to influence public opinion in ways that amplify or publicise the impact of a cyber attack,” explains JAMK Chief Specialist Marko Vatanen.

"The Realistic Global Cyber Environment (RGCE) used for training enables us to include these more functional elements in national cyber exercises, and thereby comprehensively enhance the skills of participants," Vatanen continues.

National cyber exercises support cooperation between organisations

National cyber exercises are arranged four times a year in various compositions. A government-level cyber coordination group is also involved in the national exercise for security authorities.

"Interdepartmental cooperation has become increasingly important every year with the growing and increasingly complex interdependency of information and communication technology environments used by public authorities and other operators. Successful cyber security requires seamless linking of technical information security work, scenarios and management," explains National Cyber Security Director Rauli Paananen.

"Skills improve and expand with each training exercise, and the standard exemplified by the participants on this occasion gave us genuine cause in cyber circles to take pride in our national competence," Paananen continues.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications enables the national cyber exercises, with the Security Committee also participating in their implementation. The Jyväskylä Security Technology (JYVSECTEC) research, development and training centre based at the JAMK IT Institute is responsible for implementing the exercises in practice.

Inquiries:

Rauli Paananen, National Cyber Security Director, [email protected], tel. +358 29 534 2212
Tero Kokkonen, Director, Institute of Information Technology, Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences, [email protected], tel. +358 50 438 5317