Locked Shields 2024 Cybernetic Defence Exercise

Locked Shields 2024 Exercise was conducted by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn, Estonia, over 22-26 April and involved specialists from more than 40 countries. The exercise was coordinated at national level by the Ministry of National Defence, through the Cyber Defence Agency of the Cyber Defence Command.


The exercise aimed to create a multinational platform to connect the cyber capabilities of the member states and to stimulate cooperation mechanisms during a crisis situation in this field. The scenario of the exercise was fictitious, having the role of training and testing teams of specialists by engaging them in solving complex scenarios and massive cyber incidents, including technical and legal aspects, elements of strategic decision, public communication, as well as scoring teams' ability to adapt and protect their own networks.


The Cyber Defence Agency, in partnership with representatives from Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova, coordinated the mixed team made up of specialists from institutions of the National Defence, Public Order and National Security System, the National Directorate of Cyber Security and private companies that operate in the field.

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Locked Shields 2024 is a Red Team versus Blue Team Exercise, where rapid reaction teams of the NATO member and partner states support a fictional country under large scale cyber attack in protecting military and governmental IT networks as well as national critical infrastructure in real time: gas and electricity production and distribution systems, satellite and 5G communication systems and banking systems against multiple and multidirectional cyber attacks.

Specialists involved in this international cyber security exercise trained in crisis situations and were able to test existing incident response procedures. The exercise also offered the opportunity to evaluate, during high-pressure scenarios, the ability to jointly ensure, within allied framework, the resilience of systems and services.

The Press Office