More than 30 members of North Macedonia’s government, critical infrastructure firms, and other key institutions recently completed the country’s 5th annual National Coordination Exercise and Cyber Drill.

The three-day exercise strove to diagnose the government’s current capacity for cyber incident response and identify areas for improvement. The exercise clarified roles and established national protocols within the government, improving the country’s readiness to mobilize a coordinated and effective response to a cyber crisis and protect public institutions. Findings and recommendations from the drill will be provided to the National Cyber Incident Response Team. These conclusions will inform the country’s ongoing effort to reshape its policies and institutional capabilities, addressing the country’s heightened cyber threat environment.

“We plan to harness these expertise to fortify our cybersecurity strategies and enhance our abilities to respond to incidents,” said Ervin Regepagic, Vice President of the Agency for Electronics Communications. “This exercise helped catalyze our collaboration and knowledge exchange. Ultimately, this will elevate our resilience against evolving cyber threats.”

Activities moderated during the exercise included:

• Review of “Cyber Threats to North Macedonia: Trends and Geopolitical Factors.”
• Review of “Cyber Resilience: Current Trends in National Coordination and Response.”
• Tabletop exercise and cyberattack drill with participants mirroring roles within the national cybersecurity authority for cases of a ministry and national critical infrastructure operator under cyberattack.
• An after-action review to identify successes and vulnerabilities.

Exercise facilitators drew parallels to recent cyberattacks both globally and within North Macedonia, including the September 2022 cyberattack of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Economy, during which North Macedonia experienced disruption to the functioning of the ministry and its 40 branch offices.

The exercise was organized by the Agency for Electronic Communications of the Republic of North Macedonia and sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Critical Infrastructure Digitalization and Resilience (CIDR) program.

“We are committed to translating these learnings into tangible measures that strengthen our cybersecurity posture at the national level,” said Regepagic of the AEC.