This week, the world’s most complex cyber defense exercise, Locked Shields 2025, is taking place in Tallinn. During the exercise, 4,000 experts from 41 different nations in 17 teams are tasked with defending national systems and critical infrastructure in a high-pressure, live-fire cyber conflict that mirrors today’s evolving threats.
This year is the fifteenth anniversary of the annual Locked Shields cyber defense training exercise in Tallinn, organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE).
This year, Locked Shields challenges 4,000 experts from 41 different nations in 17 teams to defend national systems and critical infrastructure in a high-pressure, live-fire cyber conflict that mirrors today’s evolving threats.
For the exercise, participants are divided into 17 multinational “Blue Teams” to face more than 8,000 sophisticated attacks against a massive landscape of 8,000 virtual systems representing nation state-like infrastructure.
According to a press release, this year’s fictional scenario reflects some of the most pressing current global realities, including geopolitical tensions, violations of sovereignty, and large-scale cyberattacks. The 2025 storyline has also been expanded to include additional fictional nations and wider regions, underlining how cyber defense cooperation must transcend borders in an increasingly interconnected digital world.
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