EU CyberNet experts participated in the national cybersecurity exercise “Cyber llamas” (“Cyber flames”) in the Dominican Republic. The table top exercise was carried out by the Cyber4Dev project in collaboration with the National Cybersecurity Centre of the Dominican Republic on 19 May 2021.

The purpose of Dominican Republic’s first national level cybersecurity exercise was to define, specify and exercise the role of the National Cybersecurity Council (NCC) in cyber crisis. The focus of the exercise was to test the operational and collaborative practices, regulatory frameworks and political escalation process in a large scale cyber crisis affecting the nation. The fictional scenario, developed in collaboration with the CSIRT-RD and Indotel experts focused on cybercrime targeting DR’s critical infrastructure, government ICT infrastructure and e-services.

The exercise received active interest and lively participation by executive level representatives from the ministries and agencies that form part of the National Cybersecurity Council. The conclusions of the exercise will feed into the national policy planning, regulatory and capability development processes in cybersecurity.

During the same week, the representatives of the LAC4 (Latin America and the Caribbean Cyber Competence Centre) Feasibility Study Advisory Group, facilitated by the EU CyberNet, visited the proposed location for the regional Centre in the Dominican Republic, envisaged to begin its operations in autumn 2021. The LAC4 is intended to serve as a hub for sharing EU’s collective expertise and building up local capacity through specialised courses and workshops, promoting regional collaboration and facilitating practical cooperation between the LAC region and the EU. The site-visit was part of the feasibility study conducted by an international group of experts, analysing the appropriate scope, focus, management and governance framework of the prospective Centre.