Cybersecurity is one of the key priorities according to the Long-Term National Strategic Plan for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization of the SCS
According to Oleg Nikolaychuk, Deputy Head for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization (CDTO), in 2024, a cybersecurity assessment was conducted in accordance with the NIST CSF 1.1 framework, along with a review of the State Customs Service’s information security operational model. A roadmap with priority recommendations to achieve the target maturity level was developed, comprising six initiatives.
Based on the recommendations and targets of the Long-Term National Strategic Plan for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization of the State Customs Service of Ukraine and its regional departments, as well as the EU Multi-annual Strategic Plan for Electronic Customs (MASP-C), the state digital ecosystem for accountable recovery management (DREAM) identified and published urgent needs in the area of cybersecurity for the critical infrastructure of customs authorities.
Among the projects are a comprehensive audit of current firewall rules (Firewall Audit, FW Audit), a second-level perimeter firewall (Next Generation Firewall & Intrusion Detection System, NGFW+IDS), a Privileged Account Management (PAM) system, Vulnerability Management (VM) for detecting, assessing, and addressing vulnerabilities, Data Classification (DC), Security Information and Event Management & Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SIEM&SOAR) for incident detection and response, Network Access Control (NAC), Static/Dynamic Application Security Testing (SAST/DAST) for scanning open source and deployed web applications, and Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) for managing endpoints and mobile devices.
The State Customs Service is interested in implementing the identified projects, including staff training, and support during configuration and testing stages. At the same time, the State Customs Service sees the deployment of a centralized SOC (Security Operations Center) on the resource base of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine as a practical step. At the current stage of information security development, the State Customs Service is collaborating with key entities of the national cybersecurity system, including the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection (SOC) and the Security Service of Ukraine (for checking information and communication systems for unauthorized access channels or vulnerabilities that could lead to their creation).
To coordinate resources and advance in this direction, the State Customs Service recently initiated an important meeting that brought together representatives of the State Customs Service, the European Union Delegation, EU4PFM, and other international partner projects to discuss achievements and set priorities in the area of cybersecurity.
Vytenis Alisauskas, EU4PFM Key International Expert in Customs, emphasized that one of the program’s main objectives is to support the preparation of the State Customs Service for future integration with the EU Customs Union. A crucial step in this process is the finalization and adoption of a new Customs Code aligned with the EU Customs Code. This legal framework will serve as the foundation for the development of entirely new customs IT systems. Key IT priorities include transitioning from NCTS Phase 5 to NCTS Phase 6, developing a new Customs Clearance System, and implementing a modern Risk Management System. It was noted that the necessary hardware infrastructure and Microsoft Active Directory licenses for user access control are already planned for these systems.
In accordance with national security requirements, the State Customs Service is expected to obtain all compliance certificates for information security systems (KSSZI) by 2026, although legal requirements may change after this date.
The consolidation of IT under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance is ongoing, and EU4PFM is providing the necessary support to ensure smooth coordination with other partner projects, avoiding duplication of efforts, as noted by Dragan Jeremic, EU4PFM’s key international expert on IT.
For the long-term success of cybersecurity initiatives and protection of the critical infrastructure of the State Customs Service, it is essential to improve technical, organizational, and legal aspects. A programmatic approach with clearly defined projects and inter-project activities is recommended. As a first step, Estonian colleagues from the EU CyberNet initiative have proposed cybersecurity training for the State Customs Service, marking the beginning of an important phase in strengthening the security of Ukraine’s customs systems.