Chantal Bennink (BZK) and Bill Kuipers (ICTU) are at the helm of the 6th Government-wide Cyber Exercise. They explain why exercising is crucial, how the exercise scenario is created and what participants can expect this year.
With the growing threat of cyber attacks such as ransomware and phishing, digital resilience is more important than ever. The Government-wide Cyber Exercise, initiated by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), offers government organizations the chance to discover their response to a cyber attack. Chantal Bennink, information security policy officer at the Interior and Kingdom Relations, emphasizes the importance: "By practicing regularly, you map out the risks as an organization, among other things. You gain insight into the various tasks and responsibilities of employees and it becomes clear how lines within the organization function. This contributes to the effectiveness of crisis management and increasing digital resilience. In addition, because of the cross-border effects and interdependencies, it is important to strengthen both internal and external cooperation. A cyber incident can quickly develop into a cyber crisis with organization-transcending consequences."
"The exercise contributes to the effectiveness of crisis management and increasing digital resilience. "Chantal Bennink - Information Security Policy Officer
ICTU is responsible for the organizational implementation of the Government-wide Cyber Exercise. Project leader Bill Kuipers starts coming up with a realistic exercise scenario with various stakeholders as early as February: "KPMG makes an analysis of threats to ensure that the scenario is current and relevant. Earlier, a ransomware attack was central; this year, AI and deepfakes are relevant and play a role. We are also paying more attention to the psychological factor in crisis management. Once the scenario is outlined, we test it extensively with stakeholders such as VNG, the CIP, provinces and security regions to ensure the exercise is relevant and feasible. With the special toolkit, participants can then set up their own crisis exercise. Last year over 130 organizations participated."
"Together with various stakeholders, we develop a realistic exercise scenario "Bill Kuipers - Program Manager Government-wide Cyber Exercise
With some modifications, organizers hope the exercise will provide even more learning opportunities. Bennink explains one change: "Instead of simultaneous practice, we encourage organizations to do their own practice the week before the central exercise. This gives participants the flexibility to choose an appropriate practice moment. During the live moment on Nov. 4, they can then watch experts tackle the crisis in the studio. We hope to provide more engagement and flexibility this way."
In addition to the Government-wide Cyber Exercise, several cyber webinars and a master class are being organized. Kuipers explains: "The masterclass and webinars are an important part of the Government-wide Cyber Program. With various partners such as the CIP, Logius, UWV and the AIVD, topics such as NIS2 are discussed. In this way, a lot of knowledge is shared. On the website weatherbaredigitaleoverheid.nl contains the entire program and the webinars and exercise from previous years can also be viewed. This gives organizations that have not yet participated a good idea of what to expect."
For the future, organizers hope for broader participation. Bennink: "We want to continue to grow and expand and strive to create more and more awareness. My desire is to have organizations from the Caribbean Netherlands join. We see many returning participants who indicate that practicing helps in discussions with the board and increases awareness within the organization. As a result, plans are actually adjusted and improvements are made. Then our goal is achieved."
The 6th Government-wide Cyber Exercise will be on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. Participating organizations will learn how to deal with cyber threats in a controlled environment during this large-scale exercise. Participants will have the opportunity to test their knowledge and methods in a real-world situation and discover how experts tackle these threats. For more information, registration and the various webinars visit the website: weatherbaredigitaleoverheid.com
