Luca Locatelli was the first photojournalist to be allowed behind the scenes of the annual real-time network defence exercise Locked Shields, organised by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia.
In an article for Wired Magazine Kim Zetter and Pete Brook describe the event to be “among the world’s preeminent cyber attack simulations.” They go on to report that “the details are realistic, and the exercises reflect real-world geopolitics. It is a training ground for front-line operators in a rapidly evolving form of warfare in which network administrators at banks, electrical plants and government offices are as crucial to a country’s defence as uniformed troops.”
Locked Shields 2014 was held in May in Tallinn and involved close to 300 participants from 17 nations. The exercise was organised by the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence together with Estonian Information System Authority, Estonian Defence League’s Cyber Defence Unit, Estonian Defence Forces, Finnish Defence Forces and many others.