The cyber experts of the Institute for Security in Governance in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and the Albanian Agencies for Cyber Security

Published: Wednesday, 30 August 2023 14:24

Amid today's increasing cyber security challenges, the Ministry of Defense of Albania took an important step towards strengthening Cyber Defense, collaborating with the Institute for Security Governance in the USA. Security experts of the Ministry of Defense and other important government organizations, responsible for ensuring the cyber stability of the country's networks and data, became part of the activity of cyber experts from the "Defense Security Cooperation University". This engagement is the second in a two-year series of non-resident advisory missions for building cyber capacities with the Ministry of Defense of Albania.
This workshop, focusing on cyber strategy development, enabled the Ministry of Defense and other key government officials to clarify their mutual understanding of the national cyber and defense strategies and to plan the implementation of the strategy and the resources they have. The seminar led to a broader understanding of how other ministries and cyber organizations of the Ministry of Defense can better communicate and cooperate in protecting Albania's cyber structure.

The Ministry of Defense, Directorate of Defense Planning and Monitoring J-5/8, General Staff, Military Cyber Unit, National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security and National Agency for Information Society took part in this week-long cyber strategy development workshop.
The experts of the Institute for Security in Governance conducted exercises and discussions that led the participants to develop new knowledge and identified concrete steps that can be taken to improve Albania's cyber security position. Our experts took cyber operations best practices and principles and applied them to Albania's strategies, security priorities and context. The workshop emphasized the development of action plans for priority lines of effort that identify goals and objectives, as well as specific tasks to guide current and future actions and decision-making at the ministerial level. These lines of effort will shape and inform decisions about cyber budgeting, acquisition, workforce and operations.

The Ministry of Defense will welcome an advisor from this institute who will directly support our Military Cyber Unit with advice and assistance as it grows and develops its cyber capabilities. The advisor will stay in Albania for two years and will contribute to non-resident counseling and education. Albania is demonstrating a strong commitment to developing its cyber security capabilities and contributing to the efforts of NATO, the European Union and the United States to reinforce norms of responsible behavior of the country in cyberspace.
The head of the Institute for Security in Governance, Mr. David Radcliffe, stated that "Albania is an important partner of the United States and we continue to be surprised by the energy and enthusiasm that our colleagues in Albania are devoting themselves to improving their capabilities in cyberspace. We look forward to continuing to work side by side with our Albanian friends to build institutional cyber capacities."
The Institute will continue to develop activities with the Ministry of Defense of Albania over the coming years on cyber strategy and policy and help develop the cyber workforce.