Defence Forces observe EU military cyberattack exercise

Defence Forces said its expert Computer Incident Response Team joined the exercise as an observer.

The Defence Forces has taken part as an “observer” in a live military cyber-exercise organised by the European Defence Agency.

The purpose of the cyber drill was to bring together military cyber response teams from across the EU and improve the union’s ability to deal with cyberattacks.

This involved creating ‘red’ and ‘blue’ teams, comprising those carrying out cyberattacks and those defending against them.

In a statement, the EDA said this was just the second “live-fire” exercise it had conducted.

The agency – which is tasked with improving EU defence capabilities in times of crisis management - said it was now looking at the possibility of developing an operational EU military cyber network.

It said some 19 EDA members, including Ireland, took part, along with Switzerland.

The Defence Forces said its expert Computer Incident Response Team joined the exercise as an observer.

In a statement, it said: “Whilst Defence Forces Communication & Information Services personnel did not participate as red or blue team members in the second EDA live Cyber Exercise for military CERTs [Computer Emergency Response Teams], members of the Defence Forces Computer Incident Response Team did attend (virtually) a short series of observer sessions that explained the aims and concept of the exercise.” 

200 experts

In its statement, the EDA said the exercise gathered more than 200 experts, all of them connecting remotely.

“The objective of the exercise was to bring together military CERTs and observe incident management dynamics with a focus on information-sharing, a key factor in modern cyber defence,” the EDA said.

It said its ‘Red versus Blue’ cyber drill was based on “advanced cyber range technology”, with professional attackers from the military and industry launching live cyberattacks against infrastructure defended by teams from other member states.

It said the exercise was specifically designed for military CERTs and included platforms, tools and technology “specific to the military domain” with the intent of providing not only a "realistic scenario", but to push teams "out of their comfort zones".