The GRACE project June 2023 newsletter is now available on the GRACE website.

Read now for all the latest updates on the pilots and project news here.

Lithuanian Cybercrime Center of Excellence for Training, Research and Education (hereinafter L3CE) led a focus group of SME’s, academia and professionals to discover relevant aspects for developing highly practical training courses for SME’s in the field of cybercrime, cyberthreats and cybersecurity.

Participants of the focus group focused on practical aspects of cybersecurity in SMEs, as significant constraints must be considered – SMEs are and will be facing lack of cybersecurity competencies.

A consensus emerged among all members of focus group that the course should raise awareness of cybersecurity among all employees and management. Moreover, it was agreed that the course should equip participants with fundamental competencies in the field:

• trainings must be based on highly practical, instrumental and low sophistication cybersecurity frameworks;

• include practice how to recognize cyber threats;

• elaborate on procedures in the event of a cyber incident, how to leverage external help.

Outcomes of focus groups will be used to develop highly relevant training courses for SMEs.

For more information about EAGLE project please visit project website.
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Lithuanian Cybercrime Center of Excellence for Training, Research and Education (L3CE) together with SecurIT project partners are preparing for the SecurIT Open Call (OC) #2 Kick-off meeting in Vilnius on 5th of July, 2023.

Representatives from OC#2 funded projects are invited to come and discover more about the Programme and the SecurIT consortium. During the event participants will learn about the Programme rules and requirements, meet other beneficiaries and get matched with their Follow-Up Managers – persons, who will guide them through the whole process and will be reference point during the entire programme.

All funded projects will have a chance to present their project to other beneficiaries during a 5 min pitch in the meeting.

More details for invited projects will be shared by e-mail communication.

Waiting to see you in Vilnius in July!
SecurIT team

Learn more about SecurIT:
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On May 16-17 2023 the jury, composed of the SecurIT consortium partners and supported by ethical expert, gathered in Paris at Le Catalyseur. L3CE director and expert Egidija Veršinskienė participated as Selection Committee member and dr. Sigutė Stankevičiūtė took part as ethical expert.

In total, 37 project proposals were pitched and assessed.

The Jury is currently deliberating to select the 21 winners who will be granted with respectively €74k and €88k for their innovations for safer and more secured and resilient SmartCities and territories.

The final list of project winners will be published soon!

More information about Jury days here >>>

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The Newsletter for the EU-HYBNET Project is here.

On 20^th of April 2023 in Bucharest, Romania, EU-HYBNET consortium hosted its third Annual Workshop, #AW, with the aim to present the results and findings of the EU-HYBNET project during the past year and to ensure vivid interaction with all hybrid threats stakeholders to assess the feasibility of the project findings and possible recommendations to innovations uptake and standardisation.

Participants talked about cyber-attacks and their harm to economy and society. They also focused on how FIMI and hybrid treats spread, influence perceptions, and relate to national vulnerabilities as well as cultural differences.

As part of the event, EU-HYBNET also invited providers of innovative solutions on security-related topics to present research and/or innovations which could contribute to countering hybrid threats. Their work plays an important role in identifying propaganda and disinformation. Participants also discussed topics related to fake news and the role of police forces in countering hybrid treats. Interesting tools that can help to build awareness and resilience were presented.

During the panel, experts from European External Action Service & Europol joined the consortium to share their experience in countering hybrid treats.

For further information on EU-HYBNET please visit project website or follow the project through Twitter and LinkedIn.

On 19^th of April 2023 EU-HYBNET Future Trends Workshop, #FTW2023, took place in Bucharest, Romania. The topic of this workshop’s was – “Hybrid Threats in the EU Neighbourhood – Implications for the future of EU security”.

Recent events in the EU neighbourhood have brought into attention a complex dynamic of adversarial tools and strategies involving weaponization of information, technology, cyberspace, critical infrastructure, energy, in an intricate pattern aimed to weaken cohesion and generate polarisation across the EU and its neighbourhood.

The purpose of the workshop is to support stakeholders’ everyday work by providing a future outlook for strategic planning and consider the consequences of today’s policy choices in long-term.

During the workshop experts discussed current and future hybrid treats as well as solutions for practitioners. Discussion panels focused mainly on disinformation, cyber treats, and societal resilience as a defence to hybrid warfare.

Experts also debated about several manifestations of hybrid treats. Undoubtedly the weaponization of information, technologies, critical infrastructures, and CBRN materials has intensified, and paying more attention is crucial. It was highlighted that concrete actions, training & exercise should be taken, to build a resilient society. All agreed that the key to fighting the hybrid treats is the involvement of the public.

Participants also discussed the importance of the Arctic and the necessity to focus more on this strategic region for EU and NATO as it is already being targeted by hybrid treats.

For further information on EU-HYBNET please visit project website or follow the project through Twitter and LinkedIn.

On the 28^th of March 2023, the EU-HYBNET consortium held its 3rd Gaps and Needs event in Rome, Italy, and officially kicked-off its 3rd project cycle.

Consortium and network members joined the discussion to define pan-European practitioners’ and other relevant actors’ (industry, academia, NGOs) gaps and needs to counter hybrid threats. The discussion revolved around three of the project’s four core themes:

• Cyber and Future Technologies
• Information and Strategic Communication
• Resilient Civilians, Local Level, National Administration
with Future Trends being an overarching theme.

Participants were divided into 3 smaller groups according to the core theme of their interest to allow for active participation and discussion. During these sessions, they were able to share their experiences in the field and brainstorm on existing threats, risks and trends and consequently identify a long list of gaps and needs.

Similar to previous cycles, the results of these discussions will now be analysed by EU-HYBNET partners and used to develop a shortlist of gaps and needs that will then drive the mapping of innovations undertaken by the project in its 3rd cycle. Upcoming EU-HYBNET events will also collect stakeholders’ feedback based on this assessment.

Project partners UCSC hosted the event and Hybrid CoE organized the discussions and methodology.

Gaps and Needs events are only open to the EU-HYBNET consortium and network.

We welcome the feedback of additional practitioners and look forward to welcoming them into our network, among other hybrid threats stakeholders. The next Gaps and Needs event will be held in Spring 2024.

If you are interested in joining EU-HYBNET’s network, you can read the associated information and apply on the project’s website. For further information on EU-HYBNET, you can follow the project through Twitter and LinkedIn.

L3CE, as a coordinator of STARLIGHT co-development cycle dedicated for detection of misinformation, together with Belgium Police, delivered a presentation in the General Assembly of STARLIGHT in San Sebastian (Spain), in the end of March 2023. It discussed the progress that has been made in the development of tools for law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for investigating misinformation crimes.

The co-development cycle is deeply engaging collaborative process that brings together LEAs, technology providers, and other stakeholders to develop tools and solutions that can be used to detect and investigate misinformation. Belgium police reflected on their experience in the co-dev cycle:

• New experience for police. This model helps to energize and deeply engage police representatives, and provides opportunity for very dynamic and productive work with technology providers.

• Real-life use case scenarios provided by LEAs are extremely helpful for producing relevant and engaging process. Practical scenarios helped to understand the relevance of the tools and how the tools could be used in practical settings.

• After several discussions, LEA is capable to make informed decisions selecting best fit technologies that can be used in their work.

• ELSA (Ethics, Legal, and Social Aspects) play a hugely important role in the work of the police. Co-development cycles provide an opportunity to have in-dept discussion of how specific tools would impact ELSA considerations.

These indications once again confirm that collaborative frameworks have huge potential for innovation uptake. They require preparation and skills to be used, but bring significant benefits in deeper engagement and higher quality of outcomes.

More about STARLIGHT project please read in the project website: https://www.starlight-h2020.eu/.

More about General assembly in San Sebastian: here.

L3CE is also coordinating STARLIGHT task Multi-modal project awareness campaign for LEAs, Public, Civil society and EC services. If you in your professional capacity, or your organization would like to be informed about STARLIGHT progress, or involved in the activities, please contact us at info@l3ce.eu.

E-mail: starlight@cea.fr
Linkedin: starlight_h2020
Twitter: @starlight_h2020

© 2021 STARLIGHT Project

The Cybersecurity & Cybercrime Focus Group meeting on April 17th, hosted as part of the EAGLE project, gathered experts to discuss the development of cybersecurity and cybercrime prevention courses for SMEs in Lithuania. The focus group addressed the key issues and challenges surrounding the development of effective courses.

Read more here.