TALLINN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCD COE) Wednesday is hosting here Locked Shields 2018 cyber defense exercise to rehearse protecting different vital services and military systems in the event of a large-scale cyberattack.
CCD COE director Merle Maigre said that exercise Locked Shields demonstrates how large-scale cyber incidents affect very different systems and areas, both in the civilian and military domain.
"In addition to solving technical challenges, it is important to understand the impact of cyber operations on the strategic and political level," she noted.
More than 1,000 experts from 30 countries are taking part in the exercise from April 23 to April 27, local media reports quoted spokespeople for the CCD COE as saying.
The annual exercise aims to provide an opportunity for national cyber defenders to practise protection of national information technology (IT) systems and critical infrastructure under the intense pressure of a severe cyber attack, said the CCD COE press release.
According to the scenario, a fictional country, Berylia, is experiencing a deteriorating security situation, where a number of hostile events coincide with coordinated cyber attacks against a major civilian internet service provider and military airbase.
While the aim of the tech game is to maintain the operation of various systems under intense pressure, the strategic part should serve as a forum to understand the impact of decisions made at the strategic and policy level, the press release added.
An international military organization based in Tallinn, Estonia, the CCD COE is a NATO-accredited cyber defense hub focusing on research, training and exercises and providing a 360-degree look at cyber defense, with expertise in the areas of technology, strategy, operations and law.
Staffed and financed by its member nations, the CCD COE currently includes Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Britain and the United States, while Australia, Norway and Japan are expected to join the CCD COE.
