Developing a strong cybersecurity infrastructure: EU4Digital Cybersecurity East at Moldova Cyber Week 2020

The 8^th edition of Moldova Cyber Week, around the theme of ‘Developing a strong cybersecurity infrastructure’, took place from 25-27 November 2020, co-organised by the EU4Digital Cybersecurity East project and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The event was attended by high-ranking officials, representatives of diplomatic missions, and professionals from over 12 countries including the six Eastern partner countries. Nearly 1,300 participants watched the event online to learn more about cybersecurity infrastructure in the “new normal” era, key trends for 2020, artificial intelligence solutions, creating efficient ecosystems, regional and international cooperation in the field, but also the construction of a national cyber security capacity from the perspective of the experiences of other states.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Ion Chicu opened the conference, followed by EU Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, Peter Michalko, who highlighted the current state of play in EU cybersecurity legislation. The ambassador also emphasised EU support for the six Eastern partner countries through the EU4Digital cybersecurity and cybercrime projects.

The Team Leader of the EU-funded Cybersecurity East project, Besnik Limaj, presented the activities of the project, and stressed the shared responsibility of all in the area of cybersecurity: “I think the challenge with all these very ambitious policies is to translate them into something very concrete to the average EaP citizen – something simple, but which gets the job done. Through our EU-funded project, our consortium members, our team of fantastic experts, we will bring communities from the six EaP Countries together, making sure that we have a wide variety of stakeholders… Our target is to reach people, like the national cyber security agencies, national or government CERTs. We rely on this multiplier effect.” 

As part of the week’s events, the Cybersecurity project delivered two webinars on 26-27 November. 

The webinar on Incident response and threat hunting focused on improving security of the enterprise. In this workshop, participants learned different aspects of incident response and threat hunting techniques, using scenarios based on real incidents. Participants had the opportunity to use different techniques, including honeypots, Suricata, wireshark and other practical tools. 

The webinar on Cyber Risk Management in the Information Age presented a comprehensive understanding of how to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities within an organisation’s networks, systems, and data. During this webinar, practical examples were presented of how to critically analyse an organisation’s risk profile and gain the skills needed to lead a business or institution through the complexities of the cybersecurity landscape. 

The EU4Digital Cybersecurity East project aims to develop technical and cooperation mechanisms that increase cybersecurity and preparedness against cyber-attacks in the Eastern partner countries, in line with the EU standards.