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Dec 6 2024

NCIA experts enable Exercise Cyber Coalition 24

The 2024 edition of the exercise aims to further enhance NATO, Allies and partners’ resilience to cyber threats and their ability to conduct cyber operations collaboratively. The exercise is based on realistic scenarios that help prepare cyber defenders for real-life cyber challenges, including attacks on critical national infrastructure, as well as disruption of NATO and allied assets while in operations.

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) provides indispensable support to the successful running of Cyber Coalition every year. During the exercise, the NATO Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) works to identify, analyze and counter a cyber-threat actor in close co-ordination with other NATO bodies, NATO Nations and Partner countries facing the same attack.

Prior to the exercise, NCIA played an important role in the planning phases. Cyber Exercise planning and execution experts support the design, the planning, and the delivery of the exercise. They occupy key roles in the core planning team of the exercise, ensuring the exercise runs effectively year after year.

The NATO Cyber Defence Rapid Reaction Team (RTT), a team of NATO cyber defence experts, including from across the NCIA and the NCSC uses the exercise to practice deployment to a remote location, integration into a remote network, and the execution of defensive cyberspace operations.

NCIA also deploys a specialist legal team to the exercise, provides trainings to more than 80 cyber threat analysts from participating countries and organizations, and designs the intelligent exerciseware which simulates a cyberattack and forms the basis of the exercise. NCIA provides significant contributions to the planning of Cyber Coalition, deploying senior engineers and “storyline leads” to ensure the validity and direction of the exercise at a technical level.

“Cyber Coalition is a unique cyber exercise gathering more than 1,000 cyber defenders from NATO Nations and Partners every year,” said Jean-Sebastien Dorne from the Operations Branch of the NCSC. “We provide a highly specialized and multidisciplinary team of experts to contribute to the exercise planning and execution. This allows our cyber warriors to strengthen their skills and address complex cyber challenges collectively, reinforcing the Alliance’s core task of collective defence.”

In July 2016, Allies reaffirmed NATO’s defensive mandate and recognized cyberspace as an operational domain. As NATO's cyber defender and technological hub, NCIA maintains NATO's resilience in the cyber domain by protecting NATO networks and NATO's digital backbone, supporting the Alliance's operations in cyberspace, and providing a platform for Allies' political consultation and collective action. Cyber Coalition 24 further demonstrates NCIA’s mission to strengthen NATO’s readiness to defend and deter any aggression, especially in the cyber domain. Learn more about our cyber defence work here.