VZCZCXRO9861
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTL #0196/01 1551204
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031204Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY TALLINN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0659
INFO RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1235
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TALLINN 000196 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL NATO EN
SUBJECT: FIRST MEETING OF ESTONIAN CYBER DEFENSE CENTER 
STEERING COMMITTEE 
 
REF: A) Tallinn 54  B) Adkins-Garry emails 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Following the May 14 signature of a 
Memorandum of Understanding in which they committed 
formally to support Estonia's Cooperative Cyber Center 
(CCD), the seven Sponsoring Nations met officially for the 
first time in Tallinn May 29-30.  This CCD "Steering 
Committee" (SC) reviewed administrative issues, the draft 
Program of Work for 2009, and Sponsoring Nations' (SNs) 
interest in additional virtual participation from non- 
member countries and institutions.  The SC prioritized 
cooperation with partners which are not sponsoring nations 
(such as the U.S.), while recognizing that it may not be 
feasible to work with all interested partners.  The 
Center's shared budget for 2009 will be 360,000 Euros. 
Embassy Pol/Econ Chief was invited to attend the SC meeting 
as an observer for the United States, demonstrating the 
high level of interest among CCD Sponsoring Nations to see 
the U.S. join the Center.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On May 29-30, the Steering Committee (SC) of the 
Estonian Cooperative Cyber Defense Center (CCD) met 
officially for the first time in Tallinn.  Representatives 
from the seven Sponsoring Nations (SNs) that signed the 
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing the Center 
on May 14 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Germany, 
Italy and Spain) as well as one representative from NATO 
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) 
participated.  At the invitation of the Estonian Ministry 
of Defense, Pol/Econ Chief attended the SC meeting as an 
observer.  (Note:  As the U.S. is not a SN, the first item 
of business for the SC was voting to allow a U.S. observer 
to sit in on the meeting.  End Note.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) The agenda for the two days of meetings included 
reviewing the text of the CCD concept paper (which expands 
on the basic operational principles agreed in the MOU).  It 
also included discussion of specific administrative (job 
descriptions, auditing, regulations, budget) and 
substantive (the program of work for 2009, cooperation with 
NATO and non-NATO partners) issues.  Participants briefly 
discussed the staffing structure of the CCD and the timing 
of NATO accreditation, which is expected to take place by 
late 2008/early 2009.  The CCD Chief of Staff outlined the 
shared budget (excluding administrative costs) for 2009 
which will be 360,000 Euro (20,000 Euro per position).  At 
the conclusion of the meeting, SN representatives signed 
off on a list of formal decisions (ref B email sent to 
EUR/NB, EUR/RPM and USNATO). 
 
¶4. (SBU) Two weeks prior to the SC meeting, NATO SACT 
proposed 17 projects for inclusion in the 2009 Program of 
Work (POW).  The SC postponed project approval, determining 
that more time was needed to review proposals and budget 
requirements for each project.  The Director tasked SNs to 
submit national project proposals NLT June 20.  The 
Director will then send a revised draft POW to SC members 
for review.  The SC agreed to review and approve the 2009 
POW at the next SC meeting scheduled for October 27-29 in 
Tallinn. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Post emailed the complete NATO SACT list of 
proposals for the 2009 POW to EUR/NB, EUR/RPM and USNATO 
(ref B).  NATO SACT identified the following two projects 
as "high priority": 
 
-- Work with NATO Computer Incident Response Capability 
(NCIRC) to develop standards of minimum information to be 
shared between national Computer Security Incident Response 
Teams (CSIRTs). 
 
-- Provide technical and scenario support to NC3A in 
shaping and executing a cyber defense exercise focused on 
exercising the CERTS within NATO and NATO nations. 
 
¶6. (SBU) There was an energetic discussion of cooperation 
with "contributing partners" (e.g nations, organizations or 
agencies that are not SNs.)  SC members agreed that it 
would be difficult to work with all of the interested 
partners, at least initially.  They also agreed that a 
primary priority in choosing cooperation partners should be 
meeting the overall goal of accomplishing the POW.  The CCD 
Director and several SNs expressed appreciation for U.S. 
contributions to the CCD.  Several participants commented 
 
TALLINN 00000196  002 OF 002 
 
 
that cooperation with non-NATO partners (e.g. Ukraine) 
would be more complicated.  One suggestion was to look at 
cooperation in non-technical areas (like legal issues) with 
these potential partners.  Participants stressed the 
importance of working with other COEs including Slovakia's 
Explosive Ordinance Disposal COE, once it has been 
accredited.  The Director agreed to send proposals for 
prioritizing cooperation together with the revised draft 
POW to SNs NLT September 24 for review. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The CCD Chief of Staff identified the following 
list of potential (non-SN) partners interested in 
cooperation with the CCD: 
 
-- NATO nations (e.g. the United States) 
-- Other NATO Centers of Excellence 
-- Other NATO entities (NATO CDMA, NC3A) 
-- Non-NATO nations (Sweden) 
-- Other entities (Estonian CERT and CII, Swedish SEMA) 
-- Academia (Estonian Technical University, NATO Post 
Graduate School, Mason University) 
-- International Organizations (European Defense Agency, 
ICANN) 
-- The private sector (SEB Bank). 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Latvian representative also raised the issue 
of virtual participation.  As reported ref A, this issue 
was discussed during MOU negotiations and it was agreed 
that all SNs must have at least one person based at the CCD 
in Tallinn.  However, in addition to Latvia, other SNs 
indicated an interest in the possibility of virtual 
participation as an additional contribution to the Center. 
The CCD Director committed to provide the SC with draft 
proposals for additional participation by NLT June 30 (to 
include a discussion of the financial implications of such 
participation.) 
 
¶9. (SBU) COMMENT:  There are still many details to be 
fleshed out before the CCD is really running at full-speed, 
but they have made a good start.  It is becoming apparent 
that the CCD will have enormous value for its understanding 
of, and contribution to, cyber law -- as just one issue. 
They are setting themselves ambitious goals, not the least 
of which is to cooperate as widely as possible so as to 
weave a defensive cyber network that will link allies (and 
Allies) and reinforce good cyber security.  We continue to 
believe that getting in on the ground floor of this 
endeavor will give the USG a strong weapon (and shield) to 
defend against cyber attack.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) As an observer at this meeting, Pol/Econ Chief 
was given copies of all materials provided to SC members 
for this meeting.  However, in the future, the SC plans to 
share materials by posting them on the CCD website.  Access 
to the documents will require a password (provided to SNs 
and NATO SACT only).  The CCD website address is: 
http://sivak.mil.ee/k5/ 
 
Phillips