The Finnish Defence Forces is taking part in the Locked Shields 2019 (LS19) cyber defence exercise, which will be held between 8 and 12 April 2019. LS19 is arranged by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), which is also in charge of the exercise.
The Finnish Defence Forces will provide a Finnish-based national detachment for the exercise and assign representatives to the command and game organisation in Estonia.
"A credible cyber defence capability requires international cooperation as well as skilled personnel and reservists. LS19 is the world’s largest life-fire cyber defence exercise and an excellent opportunity for strengthening international cooperation and the skills of our personnel and reservists. The Finnish exercise detachment (the Blue Team) comprises cadets belonging to the Finnish Defence Forces personnel, reservists and cyber conscripts. The detachment has a total strength of about 40 persons," explains Lieutenant Colonel Harry Kantola, head of the Cyber Division of the Finnish Defence Forces C5 Agency.
LS19 is built around an imaginary scenario and will be held in an information technology environment specifically constructed for the exercise. The task of the troops participating in Locked Shields 2019 is to protect critical infrastructure and information systems against cyber attacks. The exercise command organisation will have its headquarters in Estonia and the national detachments will operate in their own countries through online connections.
The top experts will comprise the cyber defence reserve
The general aim of the LS19 exercise is to test and enhance the skills of the participating teams in the combating and prevention of cyber attacks and in the reporting of such incidents.
The aim of the Finnish Defence Forces is to strengthen the skills of its personnel and conscripts in the combating of cyber threats. One purpose of LS19 is also to ensure that reservists’ cyber skills are up to date and to assign them to different tasks in Finland’s cyber defences.
Read more about the exercise: https://ddcdoe.org
Cyber specialist Mikko Kenttälä is one of the reservists taking part in the exercise. Kenttälä will be in charge of the Linux and online group of the Finnish Blue Team.
Read more about Mikko Kenttälä’s task in Locked Shields 2019: https://puolustusvoimat.fi/en/article/-/asset_publisher/kyberpuolustus-tarvitsee-osaavia-reservilaisia
