Joint Cyberspace Command is ready to Start exercise Locked Shields-24

• The Joint Cyberspace Command will lead the Spanish team, which is composed of both military and civilian personnel

On Wednesday 23 April, the exercise with the most demanding and complicated 'live fire' in the field of cyberspace worldwide will begin. During 'Locked Shield', two simulated countries will face off, with one of them playing the role of attacker and the other one as defender, trying to protect their own critical infrastructure while at the same time trying to disable the enemy infrastructure.

Spain, a founding member of NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), has participated in successive editions since 2010 and is taking part in this year's edition, with a team made up of both military and civilian personnel, a total of around 200 people working in coordination, highlighting the joint and wide-ranging character of Cyber Defence.

The context of the drill is that of an active and open conflict, in the grey zone with a hybrid warfare technique, taking place in real time between two technical teams: a defence team (Blue Team - BT) and an attack team (Red Team - RT). The BT represents an alliance of countries that constitute a hypothetical international organisation and provide assistance to a fictitious country, a member of this organisation, to guarantee the defence of its computer systems against cyber-attacks perpetrated persistently by the RT.

This annual real-time network defence drill is a unique opportunity for cyber defenders to practice the protection of national IT systems and critical infrastructures under the pressure of a massive cyber-attack.

The Cyberspace Operational Command (MOC in Spanish) is responsible for planning, conducting and monitoring military operations aimed at ensuring the Armed Forces' freedom of action in the cyberspace domain, according to current operational plans; and the way to be prepared is through continuous education and training.