NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence based in Estonia, celebrated today Portugal becoming the 21st member of the cyber defence hub.
„We are facing adversaries who target our common values in cyber space – freedom, truth, trust. To build resilience we need to come together, that is why I am glad to welcome Portugal as together we are stronger,” said Merle Maigre, Director of the multinational and interdisciplinary hub of cyber defence expertise.
Accesion of Portugal was celebrated today with a flag-raising ceremony at the NATO CCD COE based in Estonia. Yesterday Australia announced their plan to join the Centre.
CCDCOE is organising this week one of its annual highlights, world´s largest and most advanced international live-fire cyber defence exercise Locked Shields 2018. The annual exercise 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 cyber attack.
NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) is a NATO-accredited cyber defence hub focusing on research, training and exercises. The international military organisation based in Estonia provides a 360-degree look at cyber defence, with expertise in the areas of technology, strategy, operations and law.
NATO CCD COE is home of the Tallinn Manual 2.0, the most comprehensive guide on how International Law applies to cyber operations. The Centre organises the world’s largest and most complex international live-fire cyber defence exercise Locked Shields. Another highlight of the Centre is the International Conference on Cyber Conflict, CyCon, a unique event joining key experts and decision-makers of the global cyber defence community in Tallinn every spring. The tenth anniversary event CyCon X: Maximising Effects will take place from 30 May to 1 June 2018. In partnership with Munich Security Conference, CCDCOE will host the Cyber Security Summit in Tallinn on 29 May, 2018 on the eve of CyCon.
The Centre is staffed and financed by its member nations, as of today Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. Australia, Norway and Japan are on the path of joining the Centre.
More photos by Estonian Defence Forces here