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The Finnish Defence Forces to Participate in an International Cyber Defence Exercise

Defence Command
Publication date 20.4.2017 12.31
Press release

The Finnish Defence Forces will participate in the international Locked Shields 2017 cyber defence exercise 24-28 April 2017.

The annual real-time network defence exercise is organised and led by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) based in Tallinn, Estonia. Over 800 participants from 25 countries are involved in the exercise.

The command and  support organisation of the exercise are located in Estonia and the defending teams have secure online access to the exercise networks from their home bases.

Finnish and Swedish cyber cooperation

The Finnish Defence Forces will participate in the exercise with two defending teams and by having personnel in the exercise command organisation in Tallinn.

One defending team is made up of personnel from the Finnish Defence Forces and the Swedish Armed Forces. The other defending team is national and in consists of voluntary reservists participating in the exercise.

The voluntary refresher training exercise is organised in cooperation with the National Defence Training Association of Finland.

Blue Team vs. Red Team

Locked Shields is the largest and most complex international live-fire "Blue Team vs Red Team" cyber defence exercise in the world.

The job of the defenders, the Blue Team, is to defend their information management systems in the exercise environment against cyber attacks.

In 2017 Blue Teams are tasked to maintain the services and networks of a military air base of the fictional country, which, according to the exercise scenario, will experience severe attacks on its power grid system, drones, military command and control systems and other operational infrastructure.
The teams must also be able to react to the legal and communication questions that arise from the events. The training scenario is competitive and the support organisation will grade the teams.

The overall goal of the exercise is to train the skills and knowledge of computer emergency response specialists to handle various incidents. The national goal is to development the Finnish Defence Forces' and reservists' skills in repelling cyber threats and also to improve the cooperation with Sweden.

For more information: Exercise Commander, Major (Eng.) Anssi Kärkkäinen +358299 566 800

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