For the third year in a row, the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia and CTF Tech hosted the Nordic-Baltic Cybercation Forum, which brought together interested specialists from all fields related to cybersecurity: technology entrepreneurs, representatives of educational organisations, IT teachers, youth workers, IT and cyber education enthusiasts, education specialists and policy makers. The forum focused on the development of cyber education in Estonia and the Nordic countries and ethical and legal issues in the cyber world. The initiative of the Nordic and Baltic CyberSkills Think Tank and its further plans in the development and leadership of the field of expert shortages were also presented.
As key findings of the Cybercation Forum, it was emphasized that ethical hacking and cybersecurity should be in a more central focus in our education system, and raising awareness is a key topic.
Grete Kodi, the head organizer of Cybercation, pointed out that there is a shortage of nearly a million professionals in the field of cybersecurity in the EU alone: "In order to promote cyber education, more attention needs to be given to the development of young people, the creation of a community as well as relevant job opportunities. If we want experienced professionals, we need to create a supportive ecosystem that would allow, on the one hand, to develop cyber experts and, on the other hand, to support the growth of cyber companies. Here we have a lot to learn from the Nordic countries, we need to cooperate with them and apply models that are already working well elsewhere".
Rainer Ratnik, CEO of the law firm WIDEN, who presented in the second block of the forum, underlined that cyber education should start by overcoming some current fears and misconceptions: "We need to start with teachers – young people are already learning with eagerness, but adults need to dare to talk about ethical hacking so that they can offer support and raise awareness. Ethical intent does not mean that hacking itself is ethical. Teachers should be present in the conversation because today's knowledge will be old tomorrow."
Linda Mostrup, a representative of the Nordic-Baltic CyberSkills Think Tank, pointed out the importance of cross-border cooperation to support talent development: "This is a cross-sectoral theme where the key to success is to educate the teachers in the field".
In parallel with the cyber education forum, the international ethical hacking competition Telia Cyber Battle of the Nordics and Baltics took place, with a total of 156 teams participating in the preliminary round, 106 of them from Estonia and 50 from elsewhere. In total, the project involved nearly 800 young people whose cybersecurity skills were developed in online workshops and pre-competitions. 21 teams from the Nordic and Baltic countries made it to the finals in Tartu, including five girls' teams. The first place was won by the representatives of Sweden, the second place was won by the young people of Norway, and the third place was awarded to the young people of Estonia.
Telia Cyber Battle of the Nordics and Baltics and CyberSpike 2024, which took place for the fifth time, brought a succession of cyber experts from every Nordic and Baltic country to Tartu. During the battle, the teams solved tasks related to real-life cyber incidents.
Kätlin Koemets, CEO of CTF Tech, was delighted with the success of Estonian youth: "The arrival of Estonian youth in the top three is a great achievement. Such a strong result was achieved for the first time in the history of our five-year competition. It is good to see that the youngsters here are ready to compete at international level and can even stand out." Koemets added that strong participation and an continuous skills-development set up a solid foundation for the future of cyber defence in Estonia and the Nordic region.