Today, the Central Election Commission (CEC) has reached a significant milestone in reinforcing its cybersecurity. The CEC Secretariat’s IT team has successfully completed a year-long series of specialized trainings designed to enhance their cybersecurity expertise.
The ongoing war turned Ukrainian government institutions into prime targets for sophisticated cyberattacks aimed at undermining public trust and disrupting critical services. Consequently, safeguarding the integrity of information systems is crucial to maintaining transparency, stability, and reliability in public administration. This will be key in the context of first post-war elections in Ukraine, which are vital for the country's future and the legitimacy of its leadership. Given that urgent need, the Council of Europe* supported a comprehensive training initiative for the Central Election Commission (CEC) to strengthen the cybersecurity expertise of its IT staff on the use of innovative cybersecurity systems.
The series of specialized trainings culminated in November 2024, with four final courses, dedicated to implementation of Windows Server and Cisco solutions and technologies.
In the two 4-day Windows Server courses, “Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure” and “Configuring Windows Server Hybrid Advanced Services,” participants acquired the necessary knowledge and skills to use tools and techniques for optimizing system efficiency, implementing disaster recovery in hybrid scenarios, and resolving system issues. They also gained knowledge about the functionality and use cases of file server and storage management technologies in Windows Server.
The Cisco courses, 2-day “Leveraging Cisco Intent-Based Networking DNA Assurance v2.1” and 5-day “Implementing Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure” trainings, focused on monitoring and troubleshooting traditional network infrastructures while introducing automation to minimise human errors. Participants learned to enhance network uptime and security using Cisco solutions and developed advanced skills in protocols, data center design, and related technologies. All participants received certifications upon successful completion of the courses, confirming their advanced skills in IT security and management.
These final sessions built on earlier series of trainings on IBM QRadar SIEM and ITIL, which boosted the CEC IT team’s expertise in cyber threat detection and IT management. Spanning the entirety of 2024, the training program integrated theoretical instructions with hands-on labs, providing participants with practical experience necessary for managing and securing IT systems critical to the Commission’s operations.
* The specialised IT trainings on cyber security are organised within the framework and with the support of the Council of Europe project “Supporting democratic post-war elections in Ukraine”, implemented be the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023 – 2026.
