The team from France wins the largest and most complex international live-fire cyber defence exercise Locked Shields 2019. Czech and Swedish team take second and third place respectively.
“The winning team excelled in availability, usability and providing services for the customer,” said Lauri Luht, Head of Cyber Exercises at NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE).
“Every single participating team deserves credit for tackling the complex cyber challenges of Locked Shields exercise. This year the exercise evolved around 4000 virtualised systems that had to take more than 2500 attacks. In addition to maintaining more than 150 complex IT systems per team, the Blue Teams had to be efficient in reporting incidents, executing strategic decisions and solving forensic, legal and media challenges. Protection of critical infrastructure is essential to ensure the efficient operation of both military and civilian organisations, it is the foundation of our modern digital lifestyle,” added Luht.
In 2019 the exercise highlighted the growing need to enhance dialogue between technical experts, civil and military participants and decision-making levels. The CCDCOE integrates the technical and strategic game, enabling participating nations to practice the entire chain of command in the event of a severe cyber incident involving both civilian and military players. Reflecting real world cyber threats, the exercise addressed first and foremost the protection of vital services and critical infrastructure
The annual real-time network defence exercise Locked Shields is a unique opportunity for national cyber defenders to practise protection of national IT systems and critical infrastructure under the intense pressure of a severe cyberattack.
Locked Shields 2019 is organised by NATO CCDCOE in cooperation with the Estonian Defence Forces, the Finnish Defence Forces, the United States European Command, National Security Research Institute of the Republic of Korea and TalTech. Industry partners in the exercise include Siemens AG, Elisa, Cybernetica, Cisco, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Arctic Security, Bittium, Clarified Security, Iptron, Bytelife, STM, BHC Laboratory, Bolt and many others.