Latvia has plans to put together a National Cyber Security Centre

By summer 2022 it is planned to put together a National Cyber Security Centre under the wing of the Ministry of Defence in Latvia.
The ministry has prepared a report on improvement of management of national security. The government’s decision project provides for the ministry to perform national cyber security authority functions. It is planned for the government to decide on the creation of the National Cyber Security Centre.
The functions of this centre would be performed by the Ministry of Defence department formed based on the Crisis Management Department’s Office for Coordination of the National Cyber Security Policy.
Cooperation with IT security incident prevention incident Cert.lv, which is also subordinate to the Ministry of Defence, will be maintained as part of the current format.
To ensure efficient functioning of the new centre, the ministry will form a new position of a deputy state secretary in the field of cyber security. This new post will cover supervisions of the new centre and the ministry’s Information and Communication Technologies Department. The structure itself is planned to create new 22 jobs in the Ministry of Defence and 66 new jobs at Cert.lv.
The main benefit of such a structure is that the centre will not be formed as a new institution, which means there will not be any additional administrative costs related to the centre’s maintenance. Both administrative functions and office space for the centre’s operations will be provided by the Ministry of Defence.
Cert.lv will retain its status as a laboratory of the University of Latvia Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, maintaining the centre’s rights and ability to participate in research activities organised by the University of Latvia and other Latvian and foreign higher education institutions and scientific institutions, as well as continue research related to cyber security.
Although creation of the aforementioned structure is generally supported by the Ministry of Defence, the institution still believes it is important to continue on the path towards centralisation of cyber security management through a new and specialised institution.
There is a need for a new centre, considering the amount and complexity of cyber security tasks regularly tackled by the Ministry of Defence and Cert.lv, as well as the expected increase of such tasks, which is provided by EU acts and, considering the need to enhance the security of the national cyber space in the context of a comprehensive state security concept.
Under the proposed cyber security management model the centre would perform functions of the national single point of contact in cyber security, as well as ensure coordination of all subcontractors associated with cyber security affairs.
The centre would also perform the functions currently performed by the Ministry of Defence National Cyber Security Policy Coordination office, as well as the planned functions in accordance with new initiatives and acts of the European Union.
Among the functions of the centre will be the formation of Latvia’s national cyber security policy and participate in analysis of initiatives proposed by the EU and NATO.
The centre’s other functions will also include cooperation with other countries in the field of cyber security, coordination of national administrative institutions’ information systems and evaluation of their cyber security, as well as providing recommendations in cyber security and application of penalties in the event of non-compliance with recommendations.