Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas and U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Kara C. McDonald held a meeting on the principal guidance of the roadmap. The document is aimed to facilitate military cooperation in cyber defence with the establishment of a Lithuanian Cyber Command (LTCYBERCOM), joint cyber threat hunting and cyber threat analysis.
The roadmap is also designed to strengthen cyber security “commandant’s offices” through information exchange and joint civilian and military cyber security exercises and training events. Short-term, mid-term and long-term civilian and military cyber security and defence cooperation objectives have been approved in the roadmap.
“Today masks an important milestone in cooperation with the United States. Hostile states and non-state actors they support aim to undermine our democracies and damage resilience. We have to collaborate and respond properly to ensure the cyber defence line is strong and cyber-criminals are punished,” said Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas after meeting with U.S. Ambassador Kara McDonald.
The endorsed roadmap for 2025-2029 lays out three Lithuanian cyber defence pillars: strengthening cyber defence capabilities, enhancing public and critical infrastructure resilience, and joint training with U.S. and other Allies.
The theme of cyber security is gaining prominence in the European Union. According to the Cyber Threat Report 2024 issued by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), the main malicious actor groups that pose the most significant threat to the European Union comprise state-sponsored cyber-criminals from such countries as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
Malicious actors supported by Russia and China are particularly active in our region targeting democratic processes with destructive operations in order to destabilize democratic countries and undermine their resilience. Activities of cyber groups from China is most often associated with theft of intellectual property and long-term espionage objectives targeting technological and strategic goals. Russia is an active participant of regional and global operations which prey on EU member states mainly with ransomware and DDoS attacks.
The ENISA Report highlights the constant increase in cyber-attacks amount and complexity and more frequent occurrence of AI tools. Consistent information-sharing among member states and partners is encouraged to prevent potential threats. Cooperation with partners is promoted to build a safer EU cyberspace as it knows no physical EU borders. The Ministry of National Defence takes an active role in the EU processes and supports Union interests representing Lithuania in the EU cyber security policy formation.
