Cyber experts participate in world’s largest cyber defence exercise

Approximately 1,000 cyber experts from nearly 30 nations are participating this week in Locked Shields, the largest international live-fire cyber defence exercise in the world.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), which is based in Tallinn, Estonia, organized the competition. It has done so annually since 2010.

Locked Shields provides an opportunity for NATO and national cyber defenders to test the cyber security aspects IT systems and critical infrastructure in a safe environment. CCDCOE uses “realistic and cutting-edge” technologies, scenarios, networks and attack methods to enable participants to practice the entire chain of command in the event of a severe cyber incident.

A team of 30 NCI Agency cyber defenders will participate in the weeklong event.

“I am confident the NCI Agency team is ready to demonstrate their finely tuned cyber-net defence skills,” NCI Agency Director of Infrastructure Services Dr. Gregory Edwards said. “Locked Shields is a seminal event in training our cyber experts because winning in the exercise environment demonstrates our team is prepared to successfully defend day-to-day against threats.”