Estonia and the United States have started a cooperation to build a joint platform for sharing cyber threat intelligence between the two countries.
The platform will be developed by Cybernetica – the Estonian company known for the development of the country’s X-Road citizen’s portal and the internet voting system – and procured by the state-run Estonian Centre for Defence Investment. The cooperation is based on a joint research and development cooperation agreement between the United States Department of Defense and the Estonian Ministry of Defence, signed in 2016.
“The goal is to develop an automated cyber threat intelligence system between the US and the Estonian defence forces, tailored to the specific needs of the two nations to enhance the cyber defence capabilities of the two parties,” Kusti Salm, the head of the Estonian Centre for Defence Investment, said in a statement, adding that a regular exchange of threat intelligence between allies is one of the core principles of cyber defence.
While the system will initially be used by Estonia and the United States, the parties are exploring possibilities to introduce the new capabilities to other allies.
Oliver Väärtnõu, the CEO of Cybernetica, described in a statement the project as “a historic milestone”, as this is the first-ever joint capability developed in the cyber domain between the two countries.
The cover image is illustrative. Photo: Markus Spiske.
