Donation of the Diagonal pre-diagnostic tool for assessing cyber maturity

12.06.2024

About Diagonal:Developed by the FrenchGendarmerie and originally designed for small and medium-sized enterprises, health institutes and municipalities, Diagonal is a pre-diagnostic tool that assesses cyber maturity and identifies actions to enhance protection against cyber threats. On 12 June, this tool was donated to public administrations across the Western Balkans as part of the WB3C's support in buillding cyber resilience of the region.

Why Diagonal?

With the rise in cyberattacks, it is crucial for public administrations to be well-prepared. Diagonal helps in understanding vulnerabilities and developing an effective security strategy. It facilitates the identification of priority projects to secure against online threats and supports strategic decision-making.

Key Objectives of Diagonal:

Assess cyber maturity: Understand the current level of cybersecurity within the administration.
Identify improvements: Suggest both human and technical areas for enhancement
Collect data: Gather statistical information on prevalent cyber threats.

Main features:

Cyber risk assessment and strategy development.
Monitoring and awareness programs.
Evaluation of service provider dependencies.
GDPR compliance checks.
Technical infrastructure security.
Incident response and business continuity planning.

This initiative is part of a series of actions by WB3C to support Western Balkans administrations, significantly contributing to building regional cyber resilience. Diagonal is not a replacement for a comprehensive audit but serves as an essential first step in fortifying our defenses against cyber threats.

Major David Toulotte of the Commandement du ministère de l’Intérieur dans le cyberespace (COMCYBER-MI), one of the co-creators of the tool, and Colonel Laurent Baille of the French Gendarmerie - ComCyber-MI Strategic International Cooperation, together with Cedric Grousset, Director of Studies of WB3C, presented the software to our beneficiaries and held workshops on its use.

Other news and events

Upcoming

CyberPulse 2025: A Regional RCC Cybersecurity Conference

The Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) is pleased to co-host WB CyberPulse 2025, a high-level regional cybersecurity conference taking place on 2 July 2025 in Podgorica. Organised in partnership with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the European Commission (EC), the event will bring together key actors from across the Western Balkans and the EU to advance the region’s cyber resilience.

The conference will gather ministers, CERT/CIRT/CSIRT teams, EU institutions, international organisations, financial institutions, private sector leaders and civil society to engage in a structured and forward-looking dialogue.

WB CyberPulse 2025 will focus on:

Addressing current gaps in regional cyber capacities
Exploring the role of emerging technologies
Operationalising joint initiatives and partnerships

As a regional platform for cooperation and knowledge exchange, this conference represents an important step forward in aligning cybersecurity efforts with EU standards and building a more secure digital future for the Western Balkans.

Digital skills for cadets of the Montenegro Police Academy

This week, WB3C is delivering a tailored training on Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) for the second group of 10 cadets from the Police Academy in Danilovgrad, Montenegro. The training follows a recent WB3C visit to the Academy to better understand its curriculum and infrastructure needs.

With limited coverage of digital investigation methods in the Academy’s existing curriculum, WB3C has launched a series of hands-on sessions to build critical skills in cyber-enabled policing. A third group is already scheduled for training in December.

The training was opened by Academy Director Nenad Vojinovic and Head of WB3C Gilles Schwoerer, who explained the importance of digital skills in criminal investigation today and encouraged the cadets to embrace the digital dimension of modern law enforcement.

The course is highly practical and interactive and provides the cadets with techniques to find, extract and preserve open-source evidence in lawful ways. The training is led by WB3C in-house trainers Yannick Casse of the French Gendarmerie and Cyril C. of the French National Police who have substantial experience in the field.

WB3C is very pleased to be able to develop this relationship with the Montenegro Police Academy and contribute to the development of national capacities in tackling cyber crime.

WB3C Mission to Sarajevo

As part of its ongoing commitment to strengthening regional cooperation in cybersecurity, the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) conducted a two-day mission to Sarajevo on 19–20 June.

The visit focused on engaging key national stakeholders who are already benefiting from WB3C training programmes, as well as identifying opportunities for deeper collaboration.

WB3C met with the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Delegation of the European Union, and the Directorate for European Integration to discuss the Centre’s strategic role in supporting regional capacity building and BiH’s participation in EU-aligned cyber initiatives. These discussions emphasized the importance of shared ownership, sustainability, and the active involvement of beneficiary institutions in shaping the Centre’s future direction.

As a follow-up to our May dialogue, WB3C also held a productive meeting with the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Education of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to assess ongoing training needs and explore tailored programme development for judicial actors.