Private-public initiatives for cybersecurity: the case of Ukraine

Abstract

Despite widespread fears at the time, Ukraine appears to have been effective in countering Russian cyber aggression since the invasion of February 2022. During the period, Ukraine has been provided with significant levels of cyber defence support by allied governments and private sector companies. Through expert interviews and roundtables, we have convened a dialogue with stakeholders with direct experience of these private-public collaborations. Our research seeks to identify the factors that have led to positive outcomes for Ukraine and the challenges experienced. We gather the insights and lessons learned for cybersecurity capacity-building and international assistance coordination and explore the applicability of such lessons to potential future crisis scenarios. This paper presents the results and makes recommendations for further work. We anticipate that the insights presented will contribute to the identification of policy and practice priorities for cybersecurity capacity-building and capability enhancements, specifically where private-public cooperation is essential to maintaining cyber resilience in the face of heightened cyberattacks. It is hoped that these insights will help states and the private sector to prepare to counter cyber aggression in other parts of the world, as well as to help sustain the continued efforts in Ukraine.