In the Zagreb barracks \u201cPetar Zrinski\u201d on Friday, December 6, 2024, the Distinguished Visitors Day and presentation of the international exercise Cyber Coalition 24, the largest and most well-known NATO cyber defense exercise, was held.<\/p>\n
NATO allies and partners are participating in the exercise, which brings together over 1,000 participants from more than 30 countries.<\/p>\n
The exercise is conducted with the aim of strengthening resilience and defense against cyber threats, and the national objectives of the exercise include training and confirming existing procedures in detecting and responding to cyber incidents.<\/p>\n
In Croatia, alongside the Cyber Command (ZzKP), which is the national lead for the exercise, and other participants from the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, the Cyber Coalition also includes representatives from numerous state institutions, academia, and the private sector.<\/p>\n
The Chief of the Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Major General Denis Tretinjak, emphasized during his address to the exercise participants that Cyber Coalition is a specific exercise because participants are also civilians, and it deals with a fluid topic that does not only concern the military.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat's important is the change in perception with which we view the cyber domain,\u201d the general said, adding that the fact that we communicate more and more via devices also means that communication is increasingly becoming a potential target for attack. Therefore, it is important that exercises such as Cyber Coalition exist,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n
The exercise presentation began with a tour of the training groups operating within the \u201cPetar Zrinski\u201d barracks premises, and continued with addresses by the Commander of ZzKP, Brigadier Daor Dabo, and the national exercise leader, Major Kristijan Jakopanec, who briefly presented the context, execution, scenario, and other details of the exercise.<\/p>\n
Then, representatives of individual training groups (crisis communication group, operational, legal, and technical groups) presented the exercise's achievements to date.<\/p>\n
The participation of representatives from the civil sector, economic entities, and the academic community was also presented.<\/p>\n
The official program concluded with the presentation of certificates of appreciation to the present representatives of the participants in the international exercise \u201cCyber Coalition 24\u201d.<\/p>\n
In addition to Croatian organizers and participants of the exercise, the presentation was attended by the Chief of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Major General Denis Tretinjak, the Commander of the Command and Operations Center of the GS OS of the Croatian Armed Forces, Brigadier General \u017deljko Ljubas, the Commander of the Special Forces Command, Brigadier Ivan Milo\u0161, the Commander of the ZZKP, Brigadier Daor Dabo, and other leaders and representatives of organizational units of the Ministry of Defence and the Croatian Armed Forces, state administration bodies, academia, and industry.<\/p>\n
The list of participants in the Cyber Coalition 24 exercise includes the following companies and institutions: A1 Hrvatska, Combis, Utilis, Kon\u010dar Digital, APIS IT, Span, HEP, CS Computer Systems, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, Infobip, INsig2, Offset Concepts, CyberArrange Security Solutions, Diverto, Hrvatski Telekom, FERIT Osijek, CARNET \u2013 National CERT, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Personal Data Protection Office, Personal Data Protection Agency, Croatian Network Regulatory Agency, law faculties in Osijek and Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computing and Information Technology Osijek, Algebra University, EUROPOL\u2026<\/p>\n
The Republic of Croatia has been participating in the Cyber Coalition exercise as an observer since 2009, and as an active participant since 2013. The exercise is organized by Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and will be conducted from November 30 to December 6, 2024, at several dozen locations in participating countries. It is designed to practice coordination and cooperation within and between NATO and national military and\/or civilian cyber defense participants, in line with national roles and responsibilities. The purpose of this training event is to practice decision-making processes, technical and operational procedures, and to improve cooperation among participants, including civilian and military organizational structures, in order to better protect NATO missions and operations.<\/p>\n