The U.S. Cyber Command’s latest leg of its Cyber Flag cyber training exercises concentrated on improving the offensive cybersecurity operations of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Cyber Flag 24-2 was participated in by cyber units from the five nations, with New Zealand sitting it out as the adversary defensive cyber team.
According to Brett Dearman, branch chief of tactical exercises at U.S. Cyber Command, the activity provided offensive mission teams an opportunity to build interoperability and mission readiness.
“[Cyber Flag 24-2] was the first iteration of [the exercise] where we incorporated OCO. Previously Cyber Flag has been exclusively a defensive cyberspace operations exercise,” Dearman said. “We anticipate taking lessons learned and improving the overall exercise as well as increasing the participation level.”
Besides Cyber Flag, Cybercom hosts other training opportunities for allies and partners, among them the International Coordinated Cyber Security Activity, whose latest staging saw cyber defense professionals from Australia participate in identifying malware to improve readiness and coordination with the U.S.