The objective of this study was to establish a high level understanding of cyber defence capabilities across EDA's participating Member States (pMS) to support progress toward a more consistent level of cyber defence capability across the EU. Specifically, the study aimed to inform further action at the EU and national level. This stocktaking exercise included research into the different EU level organisations involved in cyber-defence activities in the context of common security and defence policy missions as well as data collection on cyber defence capabilities in each Member State. This was accomplished according to a common capability framework. The research was carried out via document review, semi-structured interviews and the development of a questionnaire distributed to those EU Member States participating in the EDA's Cyber Defence Project Team. EU-level recommendations stemming from this report include elements of enhancing EU network protection; strengthening intelligence capability; deepening incident response capabilities; creating a culture of cyber-security (through good practice, training and awareness-raising) and reinforcing links between NATO and the EU for cyber defence issues. For participating member states, the report recommends greater attention should be given to the development of cyber defence training and education initiatives; consideration should be given, to a certain extent, to sharing facilities and processes and information could be exchanged and developed to execute greater leadership in cyber defence.

       Research conducted by RAND Europe

       The research described in this document was prepared for the European Defence Agency and conducted by RAND Europe.

       This report is part of the RAND Corporation research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

       Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.

       The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.