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A ceremony was held at the barracks of the Kosovo Security Forces “Adem Jashari” to inaugurate the Cyber Security State Training Center. This Center represents a key step in developing capacities for cyber security and raising awareness within the government and other entities of critical infrastructure.

Its establishment, supported by the Embassy of the United States and the Embassy through DCAF, symbolizes significant progress in Kosovo’s efforts in the field of cyber security.

Year of development

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, emphasized the importance of opening the Cyber Security State Training Center as a crucial step in developing human capacities in cyber security and creating collective awareness of cyber risks.

“The inauguration of the state training center in the field of cyber security represents dedication, commitment, and significant growth and opportunity on this journey. The past year has been a year of progress in the development of many of our initiatives and policies in the field of cyber security. In February, we approved the Law on cyber security that creates the basis for this area in the Republic of Kosovo, the law foresees the establishment of key state institutions responsible for it, defining obligations for kinetic infrastructure criteria and defining procedures for managing cyber incidents,” said Kurti.

 Awareness of dangers

The Minister of Defense (MoD), Ejup Maqedonci, emphasized that this center was the main priority of his ministry, adding that it will provide training to raise awareness of the dangers in the field of cyber security.

“Our aim is to train security institutions through this center to withstand any attack of this nature. The state center for cyber security will offer training to raise awareness of risks, improve professional skills, and help raise the level of cyber security of government institutions, operators of essential services, and digital service providers to achieve the capacity for protection of critical infrastructure in the country,” emphasized Maqedonci.

Facing challenges

Cyber security expert, Mentor Hoxhaj, pointed out the importance of opening such centers but also highlighted the challenges that Kosovo still faces in the field of cyber security, including the lack of clear cyber borders.

“Kosovo does not have defined borders in the cyber world, which makes it unrecognizable and invisible in that space. The first thing taught in the field of cyber and information security is recognizing and identifying those borders,” said Hoxhaj.

Officials and senior officers of the Ministry of Defense/Kosovo Security Forces, as well as representatives of international partner countries, attended the ceremony.

 Cyber Security Agency

 The formation of the Cyber Security Agency, through the signing of regulations on its organizational structure, lays the groundwork for the start of staff recruitment. This agency will serve as the central executive institution for cyber security at the national level, ensuring coordinated and robust defense against cyber threats.

These initiatives, along with significant progress in drafting secondary legislation acts of the Law on Cyber Security, clearly illustrate Kosovo’s proactive approach to strengthening its cyber infrastructure and expertise. Ten such acts have already been drafted, covering key areas such as security measures for network and information systems, incident notification and handling procedures, establishment of cyber risk and incident registers, and establishment of coordination and cooperation mechanisms among institutions dealing with cyber security. These milestones pave the way for a safer digital future for Kosovo.

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HSE, Slovenia’s largest power utility, has been targetted by a serious cyberattack that officials have said has since been brought under control as functionalities of the IT system are being restored. The incident, which started late on 22 November and escalated in the night to 25 November, has not jeopardised production or supply of electricity.

“Key power station operation and trading systems are operational, the connection to the national grid operator has been restored and there are good prospects that a smooth operation of the entire communications and IT infrastructure will be restored without major negative consequences,” HSE said on 27 November.

The company denied media reports of a temporary outage in a high water level alarm system and a temporary inability to trade in electricity, one of the group’s key activities apart from electricity production.

“We would like to emphasise that HSE had the power stations of the HSE group under control at all times, and safety has also been ensured, with the high water alarm system also working without disruption,” HSE director general Tomaž Štokelj was quoted as saying.

“Electricity trading has not been interrupted and is ongoing, but as a precautionary measure we have slightly limited the execution of individual transactions,” he added.

The Cause of the Incident Not Clear Yet

Uroš Svete, director of the Government Information Security Office, confirmed that the attack involved a crypto-virus, a type of ransomware that locks files. The information gathered so far, including from HSE, suggests the attack was carried out from the outside. “From this point of view, it’s a pretty classic cyber incident,” Svete said.

“Based on what we’ve seen we can be optimistic that there will be no major consequences either in terms of system security or the impact on the company’s business performance,” HSE director general Štokelj.

HSE operates the Šoštanj thermal plant, which accounts for around a third of domestic electricity production, as well as chains of hydro plants on the Drava, the Sava and the Soča. The group accounts for roughly 60% of domestic electricity production.

The attack is considered one of the biggest such incidents in Slovenia’s history. Apart from IT and cyber security experts, the national intelligence agency SOVA and the Defence Ministry’s security and intelligence service are looking into the background of the incident.