Strengthening cyber defence against cyber threats and effective response to cyber incidents is a critical precondition for protected national security interests.
Last year the Ministry of National Defence took a decision to form a new structural Lithuanian Armed Forces unit, Cyber Defence Command, to stand guard over Lithuania’s cyber territory. The establishment project was approved at the State Defence Council in the beginning of this year and it has been passed on to be considered at the Government.
The project proposes addition of a Cyber Defence Command to the current structure of the Lithuanian Armed Forces which would be responsible for introduction of strategic and tactical-level communications and information systems and their interoperability with NATO, National Defence System and other institutions’ and organizations’ communications and information systems. The new unit would also be charged with execution of cyber operations, management and cyber defence of the stationary, deployable and mobile communications and information systems and networks of the National Defence System. In the meanwhile, the National Cyber Security Centre will carry on with its functions in the Lithuanian cyberspace.
One of the first practical steps in establishing the Cyber Defence Command is restructuration of the IT Service under the MoD so as to consolidate the corresponding National Defence System capabilities as the Cyber Defence Command in major part and to delegate the remaining few functions to the National Cyber Security Centre and the Core Centre of State Telecommunications under the MoD.
The IT Service under the Ministry of National Defence operates in line with the National Defence System CIS policy and the development and security policy for systems used in the national defence interest. It is also responsible for classified state information protection policy to the extent of classified information in CIS.
Structure of the formed Cyber Defence Command will include the Command Headquarters, Lithuanian Great Hetman Kristupas Radvila Perkūnas CIS Battalion and the IT Service of the Cyber Defence Command, the former IT Service under the MoD restructured to exceptionally Armed Forces areas.
The new unit formed in the Lithuanian Armed Forces will facilitate planning and execution of operations in defence of the cyber dimension of the National Defence System. Most of the NATO Allies have corresponding units which means Lithuania will be able to join the collective military planning across all operational domains and to coordinate execution of tasks in cyber space.
