From November 16 to 20, the Austrian Armed Forces took part in the international exercise “Cyber Coalition 2015”. In addition to NATO countries and partner nations, institutions and organizations from other countries also took part in the exercise. Georgia and Japan took part in the exercise for the first time. For Defense Minister Klug, such exercises are essential for the further development of the Austrian Armed Forces’ cyber defense capabilities: “The digital space has developed into a theater of war in recent years. We have to take the threats that lurk here seriously and have the right answers at the ready.” At the “Cyber Coalition 2015”, various scenarios were played out and the necessary measures practiced. The aim was to fend off DDoS attacks on a web server and to identify the attacker behind the attack and eliminate identified vulnerabilities in their own systems. In addition, the experts carried out forensic investigations in order to find ways and means of preventing attackers from carrying out further cyber attacks together with the other participants on the basis of jointly analyzed information. During the exercise, the processes of the Austrian Armed Forces’ cyber defense structures for handling incidents and creating a military cyber situation picture are examined. This will provide important insights for capability development. At the same time, the information networks are being tested and optimized. In terms of hardware, the exercise focused on mobile devices such as tablets and cell phones. Manipulations had to be detected and eliminated using malware analyses. In addition to ICT experts, legal experts also took part in the exercise in order to gain insights into national and international law. On the part of the Austrian Armed Forces, the Counterintelligence Office, the Command Support Center, the Operations Section in the Federal Ministry of Defence, the Brussels Military Representation and representatives of the armed forces took part in the exercise. The Federal Chancellery’s govCert was also involved. The exercise has been running since 2009 and involves practising how to deal with serious incidents in cyberspace through multinational information exchange. This year, 600 participants are taking part in the exercise. The aim is to simplify work processes and deal with complex cyber attacks in a controlled manner through the rapid coordination of national experts.
