The Cyber ​​Sentinel exercise strengthens partnerships in the field of cyber defense

The Cyber ​​Guardian exercise, organized by the Brazilian Ministry of Defense, is the main annual electronic warfare exercise in the Southern Hemisphere. In it, the goal is to simulate cyber threats to critical structures – hydropower plants, banks, and airports, for example – in order to stimulate collaborative actions to protect these structures’ computer systems.

The fourth edition included 110 civil and military organizations and companies, and about 450 representatives participated in the exercise. The activities took place between 16 and 19 August in Brasilia. The number of participants in 2022 was twice the number of participants in 2021, and among them were Brazilians and foreigners. Among them is the New York Army National Guard (NYARNG), Brazil’s partner under the US Department of Defense’s Country Partnership Program, which partnered with two members of the Cyber ​​Protection Team. This was the first time that the US institution had participated in the exercise, which also involved specialists from Germany, Argentina, Austria, Chile, Colombia, Estonia, France, Guatemala, Peru, the United Kingdom, Romania and South Africa.

“As we become more dependent on technology, we are more vulnerable to cyber threats. This is a security challenge shared by all our partners in Latin America. Strengthening cybersecurity partnerships will make us safer,” he said. a dialogue Major David M. Munis, director of the New York State National Guard Partnership Program.

collaborative work

The Cyber ​​Guardian exercise divided the activities into three phases: virtual simulation, constructive simulation, and study group. In the first phase, participants conducted an activity known as Capture the Flag, which challenges runners to identify and fix vulnerabilities in computer systems.

The second phase of the exercise was the constructive simulation, in which groups were formed from the areas of IT, social communication, legal affairs and senior management. These groups acted as crisis lockers and had to provide solutions to cyber events that affected organizations. He explained that “discussions in crisis cabinets require measures at the level of decision-making, management (crisis management) and technical (incident response).” a dialogue Department of Science and Technology (DCT) of the Brazilian Army (EB).

The third stage began before the start of the exercise. “During the preparation phase of the exercise, study groups are formed within critical infrastructures, to develop strategies that contribute to the cyber resilience of the country. The conclusions and findings were presented in the analysis after the Cyber ​​Guardian 4.0 exercise,” DCT explained, adding that the collaborative work simulated during the exercise The exercise between participating institutions is not just limited to event days.”The Cybernetic Guardian provides the creation of a large forum for the exchange of information and experiences between all sectors after implementation days.”

The foreign participants also discussed possible future joint electronic exercises, as well as learning about the main Brazilian electronic defense structures and teams, located in Brasilia.

for the month of May. Myones, it was a surprise to see “so many similarities between Brazilian internet efforts and NYARNG. Each speaker represents their organizations par excellence. The main lesson learned is that our cyber efforts are very similar, in addition to the fact that we use software s hardware very similar. This will allow our forces to be more interoperable by participating in these exercises and other events. Future joint exercises, soldier exchanges, and cyber training would be ideal for planning because of these similarities.