Events

This week, 26-28 May 2026, we organized the Certified Data Protection Officer training, a three-day regional programme for public servants involved in the implementation, supervision and monitoring of data protection measures across governmental and public sector institutions.

Data protection is a key part of digital trust. As public services become more digital and interconnected, institutions need the capacity to protect personal data, strengthen compliance, and ensure that citizens’ rights are respected in practice.

For the Western Balkans, this training is especially relevant. Strong data protection frameworks support better public administration, safer digital services, responsible data use and closer alignment with European standards. They also help institutions move beyond formal compliance and towards a more practical, people-centred approach to privacy and accountability.

Over the next three days, participants will work through the key pillars of data protection practice:

• Organisational governance — understanding roles, responsibilities and internal accountability
• Customer-centric compliance — applying data protection principles in services and institutional processes
• People-focused rights and responsibilities — strengthening the protection of individuals and supporting responsible decision-making

The course combines theory with practical exercises, peer exchange, group work and interactive simulations. Participants will work in small groups using a mock organisation aligned with their institutional context, allowing them to apply lessons to realistic public-sector scenarios.

The training is also designed as a certification programme, with short daily quizzes and final certification based on the average score across all three days.

By investing in Data Protection Officer capacities, WB3C is supporting the development of a stronger regional professional network — one that can help institutions protect personal data, build public trust and embed data protection into everyday governance. Big thank you to our trainers Blerta Xhako, Stella Manga Chesnay and Stefano Leucci.

WB3C pleased to welcome a delegation of the Kingdom of Norway for a courtesy visit and exchange on possible areas of future cooperation.
The visit was an opportunity to present WB3C’s work as a regional platform for cybersecurity, cybercrime and cyber diplomacy, and to discuss how practical capacity-building can support resilience, institutional cooperation and the European path of the Western Balkans.
We were honoured to receive Mr Eirik Nestås Mathisen, Special Envoy for the Western Balkans at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with Ms Anita Krokan, Special Adviser at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colonel Dag-Magne Lunde, Defence Attaché of the Kingdom of Norway, Mrs. Ingrid Vik from the Norwegian NGO UTSYN and Mr Rajko Radevic, Adviser at the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, who were welcome by our programme lead Gilles Schwoerer.
Norway has long been a valued partner to the region, with a strong understanding of security, governance and resilience challenges in the Western Balkans. We look forward to continuing the dialogue and exploring concrete ways to work together in the period ahead.

Today, we are launching a four-day regional training on Enhancing Cyber Resilience Across Critical Sectors through NIS2 Alignment, organised in cooperation with the The World Bank Group.
The training brings together regional representatives working across government, regulation, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure and policy. Over the next four days, participants will explore what NIS2 alignment means in practice for the Western Balkans, and how stronger cyber governance can help protect the critical services our societies rely on, from energy and telecommunications to transport, water, health and public administration.
This is especially relevant for our region. Cyber incidents do not stop at borders, and neither do the systems, services and supply chains that connect us. Building resilience requires clear institutional roles, practical incident reporting mechanisms, proportionate supervision, stronger risk management and better regional coordination.
The training will focus on practical policy choices and implementation challenges, including:
• identifying essential and important entities
• strengthening governance and accountability
• designing incident reporting and coordination pathways
• understanding supervision and enforcement approaches
• addressing supply-chain risk
• developing realistic implementation roadmaps
By the end of the training, participants will work towards concrete outputs, including national choices maps, incident coordination diagrams, supervisory capability gap lists and 24-month roadmaps for priority technical assistance and investment needs.
Through this cooperation, WB3C and the World Bank Group are supporting regional efforts to move from awareness to implementation, helping institutions make informed decisions, align with European cybersecurity standards and strengthen resilience across critical sectors.
The training is led by Mladen Bukilic, SOC Manager and CISO at Čikom, Montenegro and Vincent Desroches of EU4CYBER.

Cyber vigilance starts with very simple questions.
❓ What do we share online?
❓Who can see it?
❓When is screen time too much?
❓What should we do if something online feels strange, scary or unkind?

Yesterday, WB3C held a second session on Cyber Vigilance for Children for the French School in Podgorica, this time with the youngest age group, children aged 7 to 10.
The session, prepared and delivered by Cyril CORRIAS and Yannick CASSE, WB3C cybercrime trainers, introduced children to the basics of safer and healthier digital habits in a way they could understand, discuss and remember.
Together, they explored screen time, passwords, privacy, online behaviour, social media, bullying, and the importance of speaking to a trusted adult when something does not feel right.
The morning ended with a group-game questionnaire and the awarding of an individual Internet License — a small certificate, but with a meaningful message: being online also means learning how to be careful, kind and responsible.
At this age, cyber education is not about fear. It is about giving children confidence, language and instincts that can protect them as their digital world grows.

This week, WB3C is particularly vibrant with activity with four parallel sessions taking place: Cyber Vigilance for Children, Practical Implications of NIS2 Alignment for Large Systems, Data Protection Officer certification course and our regular monthly Cybersecurity Diploma Course. Let's reflect on what the student of this one-year course are covering this two-week intensive:
This month, the focus is on penetration testing - hands-on training and exercise. 
Students are learning concepts and at the same time, they are testing systems, identifying vulnerabilities and understanding how attacks actually unfold in practice. Through such exercises they are able to develop the understanding and precision required in real-world cybersecurity roles.

Every month, a two-week intensive course prepares the students for most in-demand entry roles including: Security administrator, SOC analyst, Junior penetration tester, Digital forensics technician and Cybersecurity auditor. 

This 1-year course is delivered in cooperation with the Université de Technologie de Troyes and led by the lecturers of this university.

Resilient critical infrastructure depends on secure networks, prepared teams and the ability to keep essential services running when cyber incidents occur.
This was the focus of WB3C’s regional training on Network Security for medium and large networks, hosted on 18–19 May in partnership with Slovenia Government Agency for Cybersecurity - URSIV (Urad Vlade Republike Slovenije za informacijsko varnost) and led by Slovenian expert Primoz Bratanic.
The training brought together institutions whose work is closely connected to the stability of public services, government systems and essential infrastructure across the Western Balkans. Participants came from the Secretariat for Legislation - Government of R.Macedonia and the Ministry of Digital Transformation (Министерство за дигитална трансформација) of North Macedonia, Serbia’s Jaroslav Černi Water Institute, the Autoriteti Kombëtar për Sigurinë Kibernetike / National Cyber Security Authority of Albania, GOV-CIRT within Montenegro’s Crnogorski elektrodistributivni sistem, the Agencija za sajber bezbjednost Crne Gore / Cybersecurity Agency of Montenegro, and Ministry of Digitalization and Public Administration - Kosovo.
Over the two days, participants worked through practical approaches to making complex networks safer, reducing unnecessary exposure, recognising early warning signs and responding before a cyber incident disrupts services, operations or public trust.
A ransomware scenario was also part of the training, with a focus on the decisions institutions need to make under pressure: how to contain the incident, preserve evidence, coordinate internally and plan recovery.
For Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C), this type of regional training is directly linked to the wider goal of strengthening cyber resilience of critical infrastructure - the systems, services and institutions that citizens rely on every day.
Thank you to Igor Kovač of Urad Vlade Republike Slovenije za informacijsko varnost, Primoz Bratanic and all participating institutions for two productive days and great engagement as a group.

Children grow up online long before they fully understand what the online world can expose them to. This is why early cyber vigilance is important, whether as part of the school curriculum or informal education for children and teens. 
This week, Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) delivered a three-hour course titled "Our Digital Space: Screen Time Balance & Online Safety", for children of the French School in Montenegro. The session was prepared and delivered by our in-house trainers for cybercrime Cyril CORRIAS and Yannick CASSE, with a simple but important goal: to help children build safer, healthier and more responsible digital habits.
The session covered screen time balance, with age-appropriate recommendations from early childhood to teenage years, as well as the basics of online safety: strong passwords, privacy, social media, and how to recognise situations that should not be ignored.
The session also opened the discussion on child protection online — from risky content and behaviour to reporting mechanisms, parental controls and the role of schools in preventing online bullying and harassment.
To make the learning practical and engaging, the children took part in a group-game questionnaire and received their individual Internet License at the end of the morning.
Cybersecurity education does not begin with technology, it begins with awareness, good habits and the confidence to ask for help when something feels wrong online.

WB3C was pleased to participate in the Čikom Cyber Security Days, which this year focused on cyber resilience, critical infrastructure protection, Zero Trust, cloud security, and the growing impact of AI on the cyber threat landscape. 

Discussions confirmed a major trend: artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming both attackers’ capabilities and the ways governments, industry and security communities approach defence, investigations and cooperation.

WB3C highlighted the importance of strengthening regional cooperation, expertise sharing and cyber capacity building to support long-term resilience across the Western Balkans and beyond.

Thank you to the organisers, speakers and partners for the excellent discussions and for providing such an important platform for strategic dialogue.
 

Four days in the training room, focused on a topic where online traces can make a very real difference: OSINT for Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) and Migrant Smuggling.
WB3C has just concluded this regional training for law enforcement units, organised together with Marie Pierre MOSIN, EU4FAST and CIVIPOL and delivered by our in-house trainer Cyril CORRIAS.
For investigators working on THB and migrant smuggling, the digital aspect is essential. Recruitment, communication, movement, facilitation networks and financial signals often leave online traces. Knowing how to find, assess, preserve and use that information responsibly can strengthen investigations and support better cross-border cooperation.
This is why OSINT remains part of WB3C’s core programme. It connects cyber skills with real operational needs in the Western Balkans and helps law enforcement units build practical capacity against serious and organised crime.
A strong three days, with committed participants and a clear regional purpose.