Defence Forces attending world's leading cyber defence event in Estonia

The CyCon — or International Conference on Cyber Conflicts — runs over four days in Tallinn, Estonia, and brings together nearly 600 people from 50 countries.

The Defence Forces' cyber command unit is attending the world’s leading cyber defence event in a bid to bolster knowledge and network with fellow military and civilian experts.

The CyCon — or International Conference on Cyber Conflicts — runs over four days in Tallinn, Estonia, and brings together nearly 600 people from 50 countries.

The threat, and benefits, of AI are set to feature heavily during the event, along with the dangers posed to critical infrastructure from cyberattacks and Russian cyber interference in elections.

Other key areas include international law around cybersecurity, the need for closer co-operation between militaries and tech companies, and the role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in protecting supply chains.

In 2025, the Defence Forces established a joint cyber defence command. That was on foot of recommendations in the second of three investment options (LOA2), laid out by the Commission on the Defence Forces in its February 2022 report and accepted by the government.

Under LOA2, a further 100 additional specialist personnel would join the joint cyber defence command with a target implementation date of 2026. 

In the Government’s updated implementation plan, published last February, the date has been pushed back to December 2027.

In a move seen as reflecting the importance the Defence Forces' place in the joint cyber defence command, an officer at the rank of general has been appointed as its head: Brigadier General Mark Staunton.

In a statement, the Defence Forces confirmed that the unit is taking part in CyCon.

“The Defence Forces' joint cyber defence command senior leadership team are attending Europe's Pre-Eminent Cyber Conference CyCon in Tallinn, Estonia, this week,” it said.

“This year's conference theme is 'securing the future'. Speakers include senior government officials, industry SMEs, national cyber specialists, military cyber practitioners, and academics from 48 countries.

“The conference provides an excellent opportunity to listen and learn from world-renowned cyber leaders and technical specialists across the full spectrum of the people, process, and technology nexus of the cyber domain.” 

Resilience 'cannot be overstated'

CyCon is hosted by the Nato Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn. The expert centre comprises of 39 countries, including Nato members and partner countries such as Ireland.

It runs major cyber exercises, such as Locked Shields and Crossed Swords, which Ireland participates in.

In the Defence Forces Cyber Security Strategy 2024-2027, then chief of staff Lt General Seán Clancy said the importance of cyber resilience to the Irish State and the Defence Forces “cannot be overstated”.

He said reliance on digital infrastructure and increasing dependence on cyberspace for military operations “exposed the Defence Forces to significant risks”, which required robust defence measures and modernisation of the Defence Forces' cyber operations.

On the opening day of CyCon, Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, the Nato assistant secretary general for cyber defence and digital transformation, said AI is “changing the fundamentals” of cyber defence.

“We need to stop thinking of AI purely as a threat to manage and start treating it as a force multiplier to leverage. In the short term, the adversary may have an advantage," he said.

"But by bringing our expertise together, learning from each other, and rapidly putting ideas into practice, we can close the gap and regain the initiative.”

• Cormac O'Keeffe is the Security Correspondent with the Irish Examiner.