Cybersecurity staff boost planned amid Ireland joining biggest 'cyberwar game'

The National Cyber Security Centre is due to have 75 staff by the middle of this year, up from its current number of 60 and compares to just 45 staff in 2021, director Richard Browne said.

The Defence Forces’ communications and information services corps is due to receive 30 new members by January 2025, with a further 70 three years after that.

The developments come as both arms of the State took part this week in the world’s biggest simulated “cyberwar game” involving more than 40 countries.

The exercise, Locked Shields, is run by the Nato Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, which is based in Tallinn, Estonia.

It is the first time Ireland has taken part, as it only joined the expert network in May 2023. An officer from National Cyber Security Centre is seconded to the Nato centre.

“Locked Shields is the world’s biggest live-fire, cybersecurity self-defence exercise,” Mr Browne said.

He said Ireland was in a team with South Korea in defending a virtual country from 18 separate cyberattacks on its critical national infrastructure.

Mr Browne said: “This is everything from air defence, military command and control networks, 5G civilian [phone] networks, telecoms networks, energy networks, and government networks — defending those against the attacks, keeping them up and running and, at the same time, managing the political and strategic communications.”

This is our first time playing and it’s a really important step for us in proving the National Cyber Security Centre has a mature cyberdefence capability, in terms of defending the State against the very highest tier or cybersecurity attacks.

In addition to National Cyber Security Centre — which is part of the Department of Environment, Climate, and Communications and the Defence Forces — private sector companies took part, including Microsoft, Threatscape, and Cork firm Trellix.

The director of the communications and information services corps, Colonel Mark Staunton, said Locked Shields was the “most pre-eminent cyberdefence exercise in the world”.

He said the benefit of having one of his officers seconded to the Nato Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence “should not be underestimated”, as it was the best way to develop relationships and networks.

On the planned expansion of the corps, based on the second of three investment options outlined by the Commission on Defence in its 2022 report, Col Staunton said the recommended Joint Cyber Defence Command was still in planning stages.

The second option [LOA2] envisages 100 extra specialist personnel for the corps. The third option [LOA3], which was not accepted by the Government, would have seen 300 more staff.