United States and European Union Hold First-Ever Joint Cyber Tabletop Exercise

Source: Lee Rock, acting director of US-CERT (Computer Emergency Readiness Team)

WASHINGTON, 5 Nov. 2011. The first Cyber Atlantic tabletop exercise, a U.S. and European Union (EU) cybersecurity effort to expand international collaboration efforts geared toward incident management and response, took place this week. The Cyber Atlantic 2011 activities are intended to strengthen the capacity to respond to a cyber incident via mutual support systems and to help officials better understand the common cyber operating picture.

The Cyber Atlantic exercise is part of the ongoing EU-U.S. partnership to strengthen mutual capabilities for addressing emerging threats to global networks. Through the EU-U.S. Working Group on Cybersecurity–including representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), the Department of Justice, EU member states, and the European Commission–stakeholders focus on cyber incident management, enhancing public-private partnerships, and raising awareness about cyber threats, and combating cybercrime.

In addition to working with the European Union to better understand and mitigate cyber threats, DHS is enhancing collaboration in the cyber arena with other international partners through bilateral and multilateral engagement. In accordance with various agreements, the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) supports international partners and the broader cybersecurity communities in both the United States and abroad on a range of technical and operational cyber issues.