Airbus Protect at the world’s largest live-fire cyber defence exercise “Locked Shields”

A premiere for Airbus. This year, at the invitation of the Bundeswehr Cyber Security Centre, a team from Airbus Protect took part in the NATO exercise “Locked Shields” for the first time. 

What is Locked Shields?

The exercise has been conducted annually since 2010 by the “NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence” (CCDCOE) and is the world’s largest live-fire cyber defence exercise, with more than 3,000 participants from 38 nations in 24 teams. 

During the two-week exercise, the 24 defence teams had to respond to real-time cyber attacks and protect a wide variety of systems. Participants were able to demonstrate their range of knowledge in IT/OT networks, operating systems, IT forensics, cyber defence, monitoring and much more. The systems to be protected were highly diverse and represented different IT infrastructures of fictitious companies, authorities and critical infrastructures. 

For Team Germany, Airbus Protect Incident Responder Markus Neumaier as well as SOC Analysts and System Design Experts Tobias Paßreiter, Stefan Hechler and Fabian Sylvester, among others, took to the starting line together with soldiers from the Bundeswehr and other cybersecurity specialists. 

The ultra-realistic simulation required the participants to quickly recognise and solve highly complex challenges, but above all to work as a team, cooperate and coordinate with other units. Markus Neumaier summarises his experience, “It was an exciting, intense and educational experience. The mutual knowledge exchange and networking definitely helped us move forward. I believe that such cooperation between industry and the military is essential for a good cyber defence of Europe”.

Airbus Protect has extensive experience in providing industry-leading cybersecurity solutions and consulting services to a wide range of industries, including aerospace, defence, transportation, manufacturing, energy, critical infrastructure, governments and institutions. The invitation to this year’s Locked Shields signifies a recognition of Airbus Protect’s expertise in cybersecurity and underscores the high-quality of solutions and consulting services offered.

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