The official endorsement of the military requirements by the EDA Steering Board in Capability Directors composition end of June, marks the start of the cyber ranges project. Its scope is to improve the usage of existing and future cyber ranges for conducting cyber defence training, exercises & testing. This should improve cyber resilience and raise the levels of awareness, insight and expertise of national and EU personnel.
The EU Cyber Security Strategy recognises cyber defence as one of its strategic priorities. The military requirements on cyber defence capabilities are inter alia to prepare for, prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber-attacks. In June 2012, the EDA made an initial proposal for cooperative cyber defence training, exercises and testing under the Pooling & Sharing agenda.
Interoperability of cyber ranges will have a positive effect on cooperation among operational cyber defence systems, organisations and processes, thereby improving the effectiveness and efficiency of CSDP operations and multinational exercises.
The project will be carried out under the EU Pooling & Sharing agenda and aims at:
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Increasing availability of existing cyber range facilities;
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Increasing occupation rate and efficiency of existing cyber ranges and platforms;
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Mainstreaming and improving cyber defence training, exercises & testing at European level.
The military requirements approved now describe the way ahead through an EDA ad hoc project on cyber ranges in a spiral approach until 2018 (full operational capability). The concrete project arrangements are expected to be agreed by the working group by late 2015. The implementation and realisation phase is likely to start early 2016.
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