CRDF Global becomes Platform for Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative (CDAC) for Ukraine - PR Newswire

Receives Grant from Craig Newmark Philanthropies

, /PRNewswire/ -- Prior to the February Russian expanded subject penetration of Ukraine, cyber attacks connected Ukrainian nationalist and backstage institutions accelerated successful fig and intensity.  Two erstwhile U.S. authorities officials and starring experts connected cyber information and Ukraine, Greg Rattray and Matthew Murray, had been moving with CRDF Global to assistance Ukraine make the nation's archetypal nationalist Cybersecurity Strategy.  After the penetration took place, they voluntarily  began to mobilize an extended web of cyber defence leaders crossed a scope of U.S. companies and organizations to assistance Ukraine.

Rattray is simply a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, erstwhile National Security Council director, erstwhile Chief Information Security Officer for JP Morgan Chase, and writer of Strategic Warfare successful Cyberspace. Murray is simply a erstwhile Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Adjunct Professor astatine the Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs and Harriman Institute.

Based connected their discussions with U.S. and Ukrainian authorities officials, Rattray and Murray saw an urgent request to assistance galvanize and signifier the U.S. backstage assemblage to conscionable Ukraine's wartime demands for enactment of cyber defense.  "We were moving with CRDF Global and the Ukraine National Cyber Security Coordination Center (NCSCC) done overmuch of 2021 to assistance Ukraine draught its nationalist Cybersecurity Strategy," Rattray says.  "It is simply a solid, forward-looking Strategy, but with the invasion, the Ukrainian authorities and captious infrastructure operators urgently needed to woody with contiguous threats posed by cyber attacks.  Operational cyber defence assistance provided by backstage companies has proven highly effectual for Ukraine successful helping prolong the quality to run successful the integer space."

Rattray with others reached retired to contacts and received enactment from Avast, the Cyber Threat Alliance, LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, Mandiant, Next Peak, Palo Alto Networks, Recorded Future, Symantec/Broadcom, ThreatQuotient, and others.  Murray worked with Ukraine's NCSCC to physique a trusted transmission to expedite transportation of cybersecurity assistance to capable circumstantial needs connected a regular basis.  As Russian tanks rolled crossed Ukraine, specialists from the world's apical cyber information companies committed to assistance nether the Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative rubric. "The conception of operational collaboration and deeper public-private cyber defence efforts is simply a large absorption successful the U.S." Rattray says.  "Homeland Security's Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative is simply a bully example, but it focuses connected threats to U.S. institutions.  It does not person a overseas information assistance mandate."

Volodomyr Pavelko, laminitis of Ukraine's Global Cyber Cooperative Center (GC3), a deliberation vessel and cyber information spot hub, notes, "Ukraine needed urgent assistance to support captious infrastructure. Collaborating with CDAC to conscionable circumstantial demands from our authorities ministries and state-owned enterprises rapidly became the mode we could get that help, and we've already seen a important interaction successful immoderate of our astir important sectors." 

Since March, much than a twelve companies person devoted thousands of hours and cutting-edge tools to assistance Ukraine cyber defenders unafraid networks, hunt for and expel malicious cyber intruders, amended onslaught aboveground monitoring, and supply cyber menace quality to support captious infrastructure.   

"Initially, we pulled the collaboration unneurotic with the assistance of conscionable a mates teammates," continues Rattray.  "A increasing acceptable of Ukrainian requests and the outpouring of unpaid expertise demanded a stronger hub to orchestrate what we are doing. To person a strategical impact, we needed a platform, ideally wrong an enactment that already had beardown Ukraine connections, cyber awareness, and not-for-profit credentials.  Craig Newmark Philanthropies was besides prepared to connection generous backing support, but to person it we needed an established not-for-profit.  CRDF Global provides the perfect fit."

CRDF Global, formed successful 1995 to enactment the U.S. WMD and counterproliferation cooperative menace simplification ngo aft the autumn of the Soviet Union, has been nonmigratory successful Ukraine since 1997.  In 2019, it took connected a cybersecurity resilience and capableness gathering relation with backing from the Department of State Office of Coordinator of U.S. Assistance for Europe and Eurasia (EUR/ACE).  It has tally hackathons, built cyber curriculums for assemblage courses, delivered grooming courses successful cybersecurity for veterans of the 2014 conflict, and convenes a regular "cyber cluster" gathering with the information of implicit 100 nationalist and planetary stakeholders connected behalf of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.   

"We've done and are continuing to bash bully things successful Ukraine connected the cyber front," noted Mike Dignam, CRDF Global's CEO.  "By providing the level for CDAC, we are present capable to assistance companies bring operational cyber defence assistance to Ukraine successful an accelerated fashion.  I couldn't beryllium happier to enactment this effort and further grow CRDF Global's capabilities successful the cyber information realm."

For much astir the Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative, spell to the November 15th occurrence of Click Here, a podcast astir the satellite of cyber and intelligence. You tin find it @clickhereshow.com oregon wherever ever you get your podcasts.

About CRDF Global

CRDF Global is an independent, nonprofit enactment dedicated to gathering a safer, healthier, and much unafraid world. A trusted authorities spouse for implicit 25 years, CRDF Global works successful implicit 120 countries to mitigate shared planetary challenges successful the areas of CBRNE security, counterproliferation, planetary health, cybersecurity, strategical commercialized controls, and economical development. CRDF Global operates determination hubs successful Arlington, Virginia; Amman, Jordan; Kyiv, Ukraine; Almaty; Kazakhstan; and Manila, Philippines. For much information, sojourn www.crdfglobal.org.
For media inquiries astir the CDAC program, delight interaction Tom Callahan astatine [email protected]

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