Evident Romania participated in the largest cyber defense exercise in the world

Eviden, the leader of the Atos group in the field of digital, cloud, big data and security, announces today that two of its cyber security experts from Romania participated in the largest international cyber defense exercise, “Locked Shields 2024”, organized by NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE) .

This year also marks the second consecutive participation of Eviden Romania, which has teamed up with cyber security specialists from other countries. The exercise took place in late April and brought together nearly 4,000 military and civilian cyber defense professionals from more than 40 nations. Locked Shields as a platform allows countries to share best practices, innovate strategies and collectively improve their cyber incident response capabilities.

Eviden cyber security experts from Romania – Sergiu-Andrei Chirlejan (Threat Hunting team) and Bogdan Irimia (software mediation team) – were part of the international defense team (also called “Blue Team”). This year marked Romania’s fourth consecutive participation, collaborating with cyber security specialists from Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova. The Romanian team was coordinated by the Cyber Defense Agency within the Cyber Defense Command and is made up of over 150 specialists from the national defense, public order and national security institutions, but also from private companies active in the field, Eviden Romania being one of these.

Eviden experts, through their participation in Locked Shields, have demonstrated a remarkable ability to navigate the cyber battlefield, demonstrating resilience and strategic acumen in protecting digital fortresses. Their collective expertise has been instrumental in strengthening cyber defenses and fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

Chris Moret, Global Head of Cybersecurity Services at Eviden, Atos Group: “Eviden is proud of the achievements of our team present at Locked Shields 2024. Participating in such an important project underlines the caliber of expertise within our company and reaffirms our dedication to strengthening cyber defenses on a global scale”. Lieutenant Colonel Urmet Tomp, director of Locked Shields 2024: “Each year, Locked Shields aims to push the boundaries of what can be achieved in cyber defense training, and 2024 was no exception. The skills trained here translate directly into strengthening national defenses against real-world cyber threats, enhancing our collective security.”

Engineer Colonel Sorin Manole, head of the Cyber Defense Agency (AAC) within the Cyber Defense Command (CAPC), the organizer of the exercise: “This type of exercise is about 70% technical, 30% non-technical. The deployment encompasses various scenarios, just about everything that can be worst in a cyber attack. In one scenario, where the blue team represents a country with everything it has at the network level, an intensive and concurrent attack is launched. Whether military, government or civilian service provider networks are attacked, the country goes on alert and teams of professionals join forces to defend us from a known or unknown attacker. PR people and social media specialists are also involved in the exercise. They must follow all sources of information, which are simulated in the exercise. It’s like a bomb threat: we can’t ignore the threat, but we check it with a degree of discernment so we don’t panic. You have to work with others, know exactly what is happening at your place and know how to expose everything in the right way”.

Together with colleagues from other countries, Eviden experts demonstrated the availability of the defense structures of a fictitious country against cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructures. In addition to securing complex IT and operational systems, participating teams must be effective in a wide range of disciplines, including incident reporting and solving forensic, legal, media and information warfare challenges. During the past year, specialists from the Eviden Romania company successfully completed the modernization project for cyber security technology in 22 NATO locations. The collaboration with NATO demonstrates the company’s commitment to protecting the networks and vital information of partner organizations.