FIRST MEETING OF ESTONIAN CYBER DEFENSE CENTER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TALLINN 000196 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A 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 TALLINN 00000196 002 OF 002 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