National CERT at "Cyber Tesla 2019" drill

19.11.2019

On November 11 – 15, a command headquarters drill entitled "Cyber Tesla 2019" of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ohio Army National Guard was held in the "Vojvoda Radomir Putnik" army facility in Gornji Milanovac. The purpose of this exercise was protection of the telecommunication and information system from cyber attacks. The National CERT, as a part of RATEL, had a significant coordination and operational role in the drill preparation, following which the importance of the National CERT and its activities in the field of information security was particularly stressed.

"Cyber Tesla" is a multi-national command headquarters exercise organized within the State partnership program of the Republic of Serbia and the US state Ohio in the area of cyberspace protection. This drill, resulting from the cooperation between the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ohio Army National Guard was held in 2016 for the first time and has taken place once a year ever since.

The objectives of this year's "Cyber Tesla 2019" are the construction of military defense system capacities and a National CERT for the protection from high-tech attacks, as well as an enhanced cooperation with relevant government and private sector organizations for the purpose of protection of the IT systems of the Republic of Serbia.

This important joint event has helped improve incident response capacities in cyberspace, including coordination between bodies and institutions operating and supervising IT security activities and has enhanced exchange of experience in the field of cyber security and bilateral military cooperation.

During this year's "Cyber Tesla" exercise, a significant step forward has been made regarding the improvement of infrastructure, number of participants and a highlighted importance of incident reporting and coordination.