Albania boosting cybersecurity training

Success story July 14, 2023

Area 28,748 km²

Population 2,793,592

National Cyber Security Index—62.34 (2023)

Digital Development Level—48.74 (2023)

Albania’s history of digitalisation goes back more than a decade. Currently, more than 95% of its public services are digitalised. There is also a rising trend of digitalisation in the private sector, with banks and insurance and energy companies leading the way.

Increased digitalisation requires increased cybersecurity. In 2022, Albania participated in a large project that assessed the cybersecurity capacity in the Western Balkans according to European Union standards run by eGA. Building on the recommendations from this study and from the experience of the Albanian National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security (AKCESK), the government has prioritised improving cybersecurity not only in the public sector but also in collaboration with the private sector. The project made it possible to align Albanian legislation with the European NIS directive.

Making cyberspace safe is all the more important given that Albania has recently suffered several severe cyberattacks from Iranian-backed terrorists. The attacks targeted both government e-services and banks. Therefore, in society there is a widespread understanding that cybersecurity must be prioritised.

Igli Tafa

General director and national cyber coordinator of AKCESK, Albania

As a small country, Albania has a limited human resource pool, but the needs of various public sector organisations for trained personnel is high. In collaboration with eGA, we are currently training people who will, in turn, start training the workforce in Albania.

Albania’s sweeping cybersecurity strategy aims at improving six pillars: technology, standardization, capacity-building, cooperation, improved cybersecurity for children, and international networking, especially with partners in the EU and the United States. Parallel to this, Albania is improving its CERTs (Computer Emergency Response Teams) in both government and the private sector.

According to Igli Tafa, general director and national cyber coordinator of AKCESK, one of the core challenges is to secure a workforce large enough and capable enough to implement plans of such dimensions. For example, Mr. Tafa is looking to recruit 65 people for his team in 2023 alone.

“As a small country, Albania has a limited human resource pool, but the needs of various public sector organizations for trained personnel is high,” says Mr. Tafa. “In collaboration with eGA, we are currently training people who will, in turn, start training the workforce in Albania.”

Albania’s long-term goal is to create a cybersecurity academy to boost its human capacity-building. The training center would serve the needs not only of Albania but also of neighboring Balkan countries. The main goal is to train practitioners through training and further education. However, in cooperation with three universities (two Albanian and one Italian), the academy would also attract international collaboration through PhD student exchanges. Mr. Tafa predicts that the academy will be fully operational in three years. To create a sustainable cyber ecosystem in Albania, the AKCESK project plans to extend the cybersecurity training to high school and elementary school teachers.

Lessons learned:

Train trainers who will train your workforce.
Provide high school and elementary school teachers with cybersecurity training to create a sustainable cyber ecosystem.