First OSCE-supported national tabletop exercise in Skopje on handling cyber/ICT security incidents at national and international level

The first national tabletop exercise on handling cyber/ ICT security incidents, organized by the OSCE Mission to Skopje and the Agency for Electronic Communications (AEC), was held on 8 May 2018 in Skopje. 

Bearing in mind the increasing scope and frequency of cyber threats in today’s globalized world, the exercise focused on enhancing co-operation among national stakeholders in order to combat the security risks that cyberspace poses to individuals, communities, private companies and state institutions.

“Every day in the media, there are reports of computer hacking, malware, attacks on computer networks and even on infrastructure,” said Acting Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje Jeff Goldstein. “We believe it is possible to effectively respond to cyber/ICT security threats only if the government and the private sector co-operate closely.”

Goldstein said that today’s event will help both government and private sector representatives, to better co-operate in order to jointly and better respond to cyber/ICT security threats.

Sasho Dimitrijoski, Director of AEC, said that in the past two years, the Agency has invested a lot in the development of the National Center for Responding to Computer Incidents. “The main objective of today’s exercise is to detect the weaknesses, to consider the need to communicate and exchange useful information, as well as to emphasize the importance of each organization’s readiness to do so through the implementation of a minimum set of security and control measures.”