Eviden, the Atos business leading in digital, cloud, big data and security, announces that 3 of its cybersecurity experts based in Romania took part in the largest international cyber defense exercise, ”Locked Shields 2023”, organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE).
The exercise took place in Tallinn, Estonia, at the end of April. It brought together nearly 3,000 military and civilian professionals in the field, from 38 allied and partner states.
The 3 Eviden cybersecurity experts, Sergiu-Andrei Chirlejan, Alexandru Filip and Mihai Stan, were part of the international defense team (also called ”BlueTeam”) and, together with colleagues from other countries, proved the readiness of the defense structures of a fictitious country against cyber-attacks targeting critical infrastructure.
This year marked Romania’s third consecutive participation, teaming up with cybersecurity specialists from the Republic of Moldova. The Romanian team was coordinated by the Cyber Defense Agency within the Cyber Defense Command and was composed of over 130 specialists from institutions of the national defense system, public order and national security, but also private companies active in the field, Eviden Romania being one of them.
What is Locked Shields
Locked Shields is the largest international Live Fire Exercise (LFX) in cyber-defense and is the most advanced in terms of technical expertise required. Participants are involved in a Red Team vs. Blue Team training exercise, where rapid response teams from NATO member states and partner countries help a fictitious country under a large-scale cyberattack to protect in real time computer networks of the government and critical national infrastructures (banking systems, gas and electricity distribution systems, satellite communication systems and 5G) against multiple and multidirectional cyber-attacks. Thus, teams can assess the ability to maintain functional systems in real situations and under special conditions.
The exercise was designed to train and test teams of specialists by engaging them in solving complex scenarios and massive cyber incidents under intense pressure, including the areas of strategic decision, legal, public communication, as well as the evaluation, based on score, of the ability of teams to adapt and protect their own networks.
The Romanian team included representatives of the Ministry of National Defense (MApN), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), the National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC), the Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE), the Special Telecommunications Service (STS), the Protection and Security Service (SPP), the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), Atos, Bitdefender, Bitsentinel, CrowdStrike, Data Core Systems, Deloitte, Dendrio, Enevo Group, MassMutual, Orange, Provision, Safetech, SecureWorks and Vodafone.
