More countries participate in NATO’s cyber exercise
 

More countries participate in NATO’s cyber exercise
By: Chiara Vercellone - Fifth Domain - 01-27-20
Re: https://www.fifthdomain.com/newslett...yber-exercise/

Photo link: https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/Qz...JRPWVSETNU.jpg
Locked Shields is an exercise that challenges participants to respond to and counter high-intensity attacks on the IT systems and critical infrastructure networks of a fictional country. (NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence)

NATO officials said they reached new levels of cooperation during the organization’s annual cyber exercise, an event that combined technical skills with kinetic force and the input of Cyber Commands’ members.

This year, over 120 technical experts, Special Forces and military operators worked to test the skills needed to execute a cyber operation, including the testing of offensive cyber capabilities. Six countries were part of the Cyber Command element at the event, known as Crossed Swords.

For the event, Crossed Swords hosted 26 nations, up from 15 countries that attended in 2018, according to a Jan. 27 press release.

“Training tasks, such as attribution and the collaboration of units from very different fields and nations with integrating sub-teams, are meant to push participants out of their comfort zone," said Bernhards Blumbergs, a cybersecurity expert from CERT.LV, Latvia’s Information Technology Security Incident Response Institution, which helped organize the exercise. “This is when learning happens.”

Crossed Swords focuses on the coordination and cooperation between civilian and military professionals through “highly experimental, yet authentic and challenging” cyber enabled joint operations, according to a NATO release.

For many participants, Crossed Swords is a preparation for Locked Shields, another exercise organized by NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. There, cybersecurity experts practice protecting critical infrastructure during a severe cyberattack.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Personal note: What trigger's a cyber attack has been made and how soon? What is the reaction time of a notice of breach?

Boats