The main and largest national cybersecurity exercise, Cyber Shield 2022, kicks off on October 18. It will help over 100 organisations tests their cybersecurity skills and expertise to respond to various types of cyber threats. This is the record number of participants since the exercise first held.
“The cyber incidents seen in Lithuania this summer and the war in Ukraine have demonstrated how real cyber threats are. The record number of participants in the exercise this year reveals the growing amount of organisations that become conscious of the importance of cybersecurity and do the homework,” says Vice Minister of Nationals Defence Margiris Abukevičius.
Cybersecurity entities representing the private and public sectors and responsible for state information resources, public relations networks and public electronic network services turned out most abundantly. Other participants of the exercise are institutions responsible for cyber incident management and investigation: the National Cyber Security Centre under the Ministry of National Defence, State Data Protection Inspectorate and the Lithuanian Police.
“We are introducing two novelties for the participants this year: a phishing simulator and the National Cyber Security Centre’s capability, a virtual Cyber Range opened this summer, for cyber incident investigation,” Cyber Shield 2022 Director Col of Romualdas Petkevičius says.
16 participants plan to train with the virtual Cyber Range and over 90 organisations – to use the phishing simulator. Just like last year, participants of the exercise will have a chance not only to test their cybersecurity proficiency but also public relations and crisis communication skills.
Cyber Shield 2022 is based on “train as you fight” principle. Participant organisations bring their regular capabilities, staff and procedures to the exercise and log in from their workplaces. That allows to see a realistic picture of the level of cybersecurity. The exercise will not have winners of looser, there will be no evaluation nor competition.
Exercise Cyber Shield 2022 is organized by the Regional Cyber Defence Centre (branch of the National Cyber Security Centre under the MoD), Kaunas University of Technology, and the LITNET Technical Center.
