CybExer COO: Strengthening regional cybersecurity requires a more thorough approach

“Preparing these kinds of life-fire exercises requires a more thorough approach,” says Aare Reintam, Chief Operating Officer at CybExer.

“This time, we have six international teams participating, so we need to set up the technical scenario in a way that is genuinely relevant for them. This means incorporating more Windows environments, internet-facing services, different kinds of segments, and launching different attacks against these “digital twin” environments.

The teams’ goal is not only to carry out their usual response activities but also to understand who is attacking them and how the attackers are entering their environment. It’s important for them also to learn from us and from each other — how to operate effectively in this kind of environment. This is the aim of community building, and that’s why these exercises are useful. International exercises like these allow countries not only to test their own capabilities but also to share knowledge, strengthen regional cooperation, and benchmark themselves against others.”

From 4 to 7 November 2025, 60 cybersecurity specialists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia gathered in Tallinn, Estonia, for WB Cyber Connect 2025. This was the first-ever whole-of-region technical exercise, organised by the e-Governance Academy in partnership with CybExer.