Locked Shields 2024: Spanish Team Takes on Cyber Security Challenges in International Exercise

2024-04-24 16:49:00

The international cyber security exercise ‘Locked Shields 2024′ started this Wednesday with the participation of a Spanish team led by the Joint Cyberspace Command (MCCE) and consisting of around 200 people, both military and civilian. More precisely, it is the most demanding and complicated “live fire” exercise in cyberspace worldwide, in the words of the Ministry of Defence. In it, two simulated countries face off, one assuming the role of attacker and the other defender, trying to protect their own critical infrastructure while trying to nullify the enemy’s infrastructure. Spain has participated since 2010 in successive editions of this exercise, organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber ​​​​Defense Center of Excellence (NATO CCDCoE), located in Tallinn (Estonia). In this year’s competition, a total of 18 teams with personnel from 41 countries and a total number of participants of around 3,500 people compete for two days, facing a real case where tens of thousands of attacks on critical infrastructure are received or basic supplies, such as electricity and gas. VISIT BY THE MINISTER TO THE FACILITIES Defense Minister Margarita Robles visited on Wednesday the Retamares base in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), where the majority of the troops are deployed by the team led by Spain. There he attended an information session and took a tour of the facilities that will host this exercise. The MCCE, depending on the operational command, is responsible for the planning, direction, coordination, control and execution of actions aimed at ensuring the Armed Forces’ freedom of action in the cyberspace field. Robles has highlighted its importance and has recognized the “growing value” of cyber defense as a guarantor of the current societal model and the defense of the rule of law, as reported by the department he heads in a statement. “The current and future challenges we face are of enormous magnitude,” warned the minister, who also warned that Western values ​​and ways of life “continue to be subject to attack in cyberspace.” “We want a peaceful, fairer and free society, and that is why defense in cyberspace is vital and essential,” he concluded.

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