Improvement of the network of situational centers in the field of information security
Authors: Captan M.V. 
Published: July 2023

The problems of creating and ensuring the functioning of the Situation Center in the system of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine were studied. The need to create a specialized organizational structure has been proven, one of the main tasks of which is to respond to information threats directly under the general coordination of the Main Situation Center at the Council of National Security and Defense of Ukraine (hereinafter - NSDC of Ukraine) in cooperation with other subjects of ensuring the national security and defense sector of Ukraine in the information field.The ways of creation and functioning of the Situation Center of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine were analyzed, a list of threats to which the response should be carried out, both as a separate structure (or its individual elements), and as a joint performance of the tasks defined by the regulations with the Situation Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the response of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to crisis (emergency) situations in the information space of Ukraine.It is emphasized that in the conditions of the rapid development of information processes in the conditions of globalization, caused by the strengthening of the role of social networks in the national and global information space, their influence on the internal and external socio-political situation, the state of observance of human rights and freedoms, in particular, in relation to ensuring the principles of equality rights of users of social networks), the NSDC of Ukraine made a decision to expand and further develop a single network of Situation Centers and equip them with unified software and hardware for information processing, which will increase the efficiency and capacity of making situational management decisions at all levels. The reason for this growth is precisely the crisis phenomena, which become long-term, and the management processes are transformed from “crisis prevention” to, mainly, “crisis liquidation”. Under these conditions, a rather serious problem arises regarding the issues of interaction of the network of Situation Centers of state authorities in the process of fulfilling assigned tasks, preparing normative legal acts in the field of activity related to ensuring the implementation of state policy on national security issues in the military sphere, defense spheres and information security in conditions of emergency and martial law.It is summarized that the process of forming a system of strategic communications continues in Ukraine, the state authorities of Ukraine have implemented a number of organizational and practical measures to strengthen their own institutional capacity in the field of strategic communications, but an effective mechanism of coordination and interaction between all state authorities involved in the implementation of measures has not been created from countering threats in the information sphere. This weakens the possibilities for the development of comprehensive strategic planning of the information flow, the implementation of systematic communication activities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the unification of all key subjects in the field of information relations, subjects of the formation and implementation of state policy regarding the effective protection of the national information space, and the establishment of a positive image of Ukraine, implementation of the goals of protection of the national security of Ukraine in the information sphere. In this situation, in order to achieve interoperability, it is extremely important to systematize uniformity in the use of special software to ensure interoperability, stable operation, testing and performance tracking in decision-making and control of their implementation. It is obvious that in the process of expanding and increasing the capacities of the network of Situation Centers, the Main Situation Center of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine will play an important role. It becomes clear that such centers should be united in a single protected network, with the possibility of quickly collecting information, analyzing it and making decisions of critical importance to the state.