I totally agree with you. We all know that cybersecurity and cyberspace have no borders, and there are no regulations whatsoever in cyberspace. Therefore, just implementing some measures in one region of the world won't solve the issue. It has to be a very compact and global solution.
My view is that we need a global regulation on cyberspace; call it the “Geneva digital convention”. It would set up rules and principles in cyberspace. I know there are many people skeptical of that. It's going to be another convention that not all UN member states will join. It's not a fact that everybody joins, just those who understand that we need to have certain rules and principles set in cyberspace. By setting these principles and rules, we can actually take some countermeasures in that regard.
At this moment, we are very much limited to have any countermeasures. The only country that has done it so far is, just recently, the United States. It was conducting a counterattack, or cyber-attack, on the Russian troll farms. I think it was back in February.
We have to build up our defence systems and structures including cyber-defence. This is something that we have to have high-level experts implement in both the military and civil life.
In the case of Latvia, we have a very extraordinary situation. We have the army, which consists of more than 5,000 professional troops, whereas we have the national guard, which is a voluntary military service. I'm a member of the national guard.
It's an engagement where we can have high-level experts contributing to our defence capabilities voluntarily by giving their skills sets and implementing them in practice. We call them the elves. They are testing our systems where we have weak spots and so on, so we can improve in that regard. There is a separate unit within the national guard dealing with cyber-defence and cybersecurity.
It's very complex, because there is no one kind of medicine or ingredient that swallowing a pill will solve. This is complex. I know that all the cyber-defence systems are constantly tested by adversaries, not only by Russia. We know other countries are testing our vulnerable parts.
I have a favourite quotation from a dear friend, Professor James Sherr, “Look for your vulnerabilities and there you will find the KGB.”
This is the way we have to conduct the assessment of our policies and strategies, and look for our weaknesses, because at some point those weaknesses will be exploited by Russia, one way or another.
I hope I answered your question. This information, again, is another chapter, which is very broad. First and foremost, we have to invest in our people and education.