The main tasks of the EDL CU

1. Protection of Estonia’s e-lifestyle

- Estonia’s relatively high level of development in information technology has made our everyday life easier and processes more efficient. On the other hand, it has also increased dependence on electronic services and vulnerability to cyber attacks.

- Estonia’s cyberspace is an open environment. The strength and security of this environment depend on the abilities and readiness for protection of every person and information system owner. It is important to develop cyber security culture where every person and every organisation feels responsibility in enhancing cyber security.

- Attacks against computer networks are an everyday reality which seriously affects our everyday lives. The disruption of the operation of computer networks is an increasingly tempting method for the criminal world, as well as terrorists and other actors, to destabilise society.

2. Public-private cooperation in protecting IT infrastructure

- Networks of cyber security specialists proved to be especially effective in repelling the 2007 cyber attacks against Estonia, in which information security experts from active companies and organisations worked together informally.

- Taking into consideration the increasing risks of cyber attacks, it is vital to ensure the sustainability of self-initiative and voluntary cooperation, and to establish a formal, organisational and legal basis for the initiative.

- The EDL CU joins together specialists on important information security related positions of private sector stakeholders. This type of community provides an extraordinary opportunity to join the concerns of national defence with the interests of private corporations, and to assist in the protection of critical infrastructure and services under normal conditions and during a crisis.

3. Shared knowledge

- The EDL CU provides voluntary information security specialists with the necessary training, refresher courses and practice environment, which ensures additional value to those employers whose specialists acquire new knowledge and experience.

- The EDL CU – and the Estonian Defence League as a whole – focuses on helping civilian structures during peacetime and on the establishment of supportive capacities for operation in crisis situations.

- Members of the EDL CU consider it their mission to share their competence in order to increase the number of people in Estonia possessing knowledge in the area of information security. EDL CU members are not required, without exception, to possess technical knowledge and skills, but may also be representatives of other specialities related to the field of cyber security.