Joint Iceland-Sweden team wins NATO’s largest cyber defence exercise

The joint team of Sweden and Iceland won the cyber defence exercise Locked Shields which took place last month. The exercise is organized annually by NATOs Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn, Estonia and this was the first time that Iceland participates.

The Icelandic team was composed of cyber specialists from the Cybersecurity Team of the Telecommunications Agency (CERT-IS), the Icelandic Coast Guard, the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, the Central Bank of Iceland and RB (Financial Market Data Centre). The joint team was led by a representative from the Swedish Armed Forces and a specialist from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland.

Locked Shields is among the world‘s largest cyber defence exercises with over 2,400 cyber experts from 38 countries participating. In the exercise the teams compete in defending against real-time cyber-attacks by hostile parties and this year the teams defended against around 8,000 attacks during the two-day exercise. The joint Sweden-Iceland team was based at the premises of the Swedish Armed Forces in Enköping, Sweden.

Participation in the Locked Shields exercise is an important step in strengthening cyber defence in Iceland and was among the objectives of the cyber action plan that was published alongside Iceland's new Cyber Security Policy last year. Strong cyber defences are an integral part of building a resilient and secure society. Participation by Icelandic experts in exercises like Locked Shields enhances domestic knowledge and strengthens our cooperation with institutions and experts in Allied and partner countries.