NATO launches world's largest cyber defense exercise in Estonia

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - NATO launched the world's largest cyber defense exercise Tuesday in Estonia with more than 3,000 participants from 38 countries taking part to develop better defenses against sophisticated cyber threats.

The "Locked Shields" exercise is held every year and is hosted by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Estonia from April 18 to 21.

It involves defending computer systems against real-time attacks, as well as reporting incidents, making strategic decisions and addressing forensic, legal, and media challenges.

The exercise pits a Red Team against a Blue Team, with the latter consisting of NATO CCDCOE member nations and partners.

The exercise was organized in 2010 and was planned by 400 organizers, creating more than 5,500 virtual systems for its purpose.

"No other cyber defense exercise can offer as specialized and detailed of an experience as Locked Shields can. 24 Blue Teams from around the world must keep critical infrastructure and IT systems up and running. Teams can demonstrate how well they can keep systems running under real-life situations and high pressure,” NATO CCDCOE Director Mart Noorma said in a statement.