Exeon takes part in NATO cyber defense exercise

(CONNECT) Zurich-based Exeon Analytics AG, which specialises in corporate cyber security, took part in the NATO Locked Shields exercise, according to a press release. Exeon worked as part of the international Blue Team 15 (BT15). It was attended by more than 200 experts from the armed forces, civilian authorities and the private sector from Switzerland, Spain and Brazil. This year, the team was led by the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

Exeon used its Network Detection & Response (NDR) platform ExeonTrace. According to the press release, it enables companies to monitor networks, detect cyber threats immediately and effectively protect their own IT landscape. Exeon focused on strengthening incident detection and response via artificial intelligence (AI)-powered threat detection. The self-learning algorithms used by Exeon were developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich(ETH).

According to the company, ExeonTrace met all expectations. The program has proven to be particularly valuable due to its agentless deployment, robust offline detection capabilities and open architecture. This enables a quick response and adaptation to new situations. 

One of the main tasks of the exercise was to protect the critical infrastructure of the fictitious state of Berylia, such as power grids and substations. Red Teams - the opponents of Blue Teams - launched more than 8000 coordinated attacks against defended virtual infrastructures.

“This exercise confirms the importance of European-led cyber security innovation and the value of AI-based NDR in countering threats at a national level,” said Gregor Erismann, Co-CEO of Exeon.

The exercise has been organised annually since 2010 by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn, Estonia. ce/gba