NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence contributed staff and a number of storylines to NATOs largest ever multinational cyber defence exercise Cyber Coalition 2014, taking place in Tartu, Estonia this week.
“Our technical scenario was very popular among the exercise participants as it was complex and challenging. Combining mobile malware and insider threat, the storyline highlighted some of the very realistic threats network security professionals face every day,” explained Liutenant Colonel Christian Braccini, an Italian researcher at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. The Centre contributed to Cyber Coalition 2015 with a technical and two legal scenarios as well as staff.
“The cyber threat is not just a potential threat, it is daily reality,” said Ambassador Sorin Ducaru, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges as the exercise was launched. “Conflicts can be virtual but with consequences that are real and destructive.”
The three-day cyber defence exercise Cyber Coalition 2014 tested the Alliance’s ability to defend its networks from the various challenges. It involved over 670 technical, government and cyber experts operating from dozens of locations from across the Alliance and partner nations. For the first time, representatives from academia and industry had been invited as observers. The aim of the exercise was to test the rapid sharing of information about cyber incidents as well as the ability of the participating nations to coordinate a defence against a series of targeted cyber incidents involving a NATO mission network.
