NATO CCDCOE

#LockedShields2026 has concluded! This year’s exercise brought together more than 4,000 participants from 41 nations. Congratulations to all 16 Blue Teams! Read more: ccdcoe.org/news/2026/lock…

Today, we were honoured to present an overview of #LockedShields2026 to a number of distinguished visitors, including Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Andrus Merilo; Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal; Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur; and representatives of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Thank you for joining us!

Locked Shields 2026 has kicked off! The exercise brings together more than 4,000 cyber defenders from 41 nations to strengthen the protection of national systems and critical infrastructure against sophisticated cyber threats. Over the course of the next two days, teams must defend a simulated national infrastructure against approximately 8,000 real-time cyberattacks - targeting systems including power grids, 5G networks, satellite and battle management systems.

📣 The Handbook on Developing a National Position on International Law and Cyber Activities: A Practical Guide for States is now available in Spanish! 👉 Read the Handbook (PDF): ccdcoe.org/uploads/2025/0…

🇺🇦Ukraine's cyber defence ecosystem has undergone a major transformation since the Russian invasion, creating an important case for understanding modern cyber defence during a long-term active conflict. Our new policy brief examines how Ukraine has adapted its cyber defence architecture and identifies some critical lessons for NATO and allied countries. 👉Read the report: ccdcoe.org/library/public…

📣 ENDEX! Locked Shields Partners’ Run 2026 has concluded - marking a critical milestone ahead of Locked Shields, the world’s largest live-fire cyber defence exercise. Serving as the main rehearsal, the exercise brought together 16 Blue Teams, with experts from academia, industry, and defence institutions. Participants trained in the same high-intensity environment that national teams will face in just one month. Beyond strengthening their own capabilities, they played a key role in shaping the upcoming exercise —insights gained here directly translate into an improved exercise environment for the main execution in April.

Yesterday, we were pleased to host senior diplomats from the Nordic-Baltic region at CCDCOE as part of a UK-facilitated regional diplomats training. After an overview of the work of the Centre, the diplomats participated in a tabletop exercise focusing on strategic decision-making within cyber conflict. The exercise was set in CCDCOE’s Locked Shields world, in which fictional countries are involved in an international conflict.

📣 Registration for our flagship conference CyCon 2026: Securing Tomorrow is now open! Join us in Tallinn, Estonia, 26–29 May 2026, for the 18th edition of CyCon — a leading interdisciplinary conference exploring the forefront of cyber conflict. 👉See the full programme and secure your spot: cycon.org #CyCon2026

This week, @ccdcoe hosted the Cyberspace Operations 2026 Pre-Annual Discipline Conference and a Training Needs Analysis Workshop. 👉As the Department Head for the Cyberspace Operations Discipline, CCDCOE brought together education and training stakeholders from across the NATO enterprise and NATO education and training facilities to review the current state and future direction of NATO cyberspace operations training.

📣Last call for registration: join the next iteration of the @ccdcoe Executive Cyber Seminar in Brussels on 14–16 April! The seminar will provide senior civilian and military leaders with strategic and operational perspectives on how NATO and its Allies prepare for, operate in, and sustain advantage in cyberspace across the full spectrum – from competition to crisis and armed conflict. 👉More information and registration: ccdcoe.org/training/execu…

Defence Forces Ireland recently hosted the @ccdcoe “Cyber in Operations Handbook” workshop at McKee Barracks in Dublin. 👉The goal for this CCDCOE project is to create a guide to incorporating cyber into all aspects of military operations. The workshop was attended by a project group of 25 personnel from NATO, partner nations, academics, and industry experts who are contributing to the production of this valuable publication. Many thanks to Defence Forces Ireland for hosting the workshop, and to all participants for their valuable contributions!

🇺🇦Last week, @ccdcoe Director Tõnis Saar visited Kyiv, participating at the Kyiv International Cyber Resilience Forum as well as holding meetings with representatives of Ukraine's security and defence sector - SSSCIP, SBU, NCSCC & MFA. The meeting with the Deputy Foreign Minister & Chief Digital Transformation Officer concluded with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the @MFA_Ukraine and @ccdcoe. The programme also included meetings at the Hennadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Happy Independence Day to our host nation, Estonia! 🇪🇪 @ccdcoe was honoured to participate in the Defence Forces Independence Day parade in Tallinn with our flag unit. 📷Estonian Defence Forces

🇺🇦 Yesterday, we had the honour of welcoming Olena Kondratiuk, Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine, to @ccdcoe. During the visit, we provided an overview of the Centre’s mission and discussed how to safeguard elections against cyberattacks, information operations, and other forms of malicious interference. We also exchanged views on the impact of social media and the spread of disinformation. We are pleased with the strong cooperation we have built together with Ukraine and look forward to further strengthening our collaboration in the future.

The call for this year’s CyCon volunteers is open - we’re looking for enthusiastic and reliable team players to help make the conference a success! 👉Learn more and ⏰apply before 6 March via: cr14.teamdash.com/p/job/36Nv8xE4…

This week we had the opportunity to arrange a meeting together with colleagues from the 🇪🇪Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (@Politsei) to explore cooperation with the @ccdcoe 🤝 We identified several concrete areas for cooperation in exercises, courses, research, and joint scenario development (whole-of-society approach), bringing together operational investigators, intelligence capabilities, legal expertise, and cyber defence exercises.

The latest episode of the award-winning Estonian science competition show Rakett69 puts the spotlight on cybersecurity.🛡️ Young contestants tackled real-world cyber challenges - spotting phishing attempts, defending systems from cyberattacks, and restoring power after a grid disruption. The tasks were run on CCDCOE’s power grid, the same infrastructure used in exercises Locked Shields and Crossed Swords. We hope the episode sparks curiosity about cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection among students. 📺 Watch: jupiter.err.ee/1038463/rakett…

As part of the state visit, we were honoured to introduce King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark @ccdcoe's role in advancing the Alliance’s cyber capabilities, including our exercises and the necessity to focus on multi-domain operations. 🇩🇰 Denmark has been a member of CCDCOE since 2019 and has contributed to our mission significantly. Mange tak! Photos: Arno Mikkor

Preparations for #LockedShields2026 are in full swing! 🛡️Today and tomorrow mark a key milestone in planning the exercise: the Main Planning Conference in Tallinn, bringing together over 100 planners and organisers to shape the next iteration of the world’s largest and most complex live-fire cyber defence exercise. Thank you to all the participants for your support in preparing for tomorrow's challenges!