BRATISLAVA — May 3, 2024 — Experts from ESET joined with the combined team of the Slovak Republic and Hungary militaries to participate in Locked Shields 2024 – the biggest and most complex cyber defense exercise in the world. The live-fire exercise, involving 40 countries, saw ESET contribute security solutions and more than 50 experts to a number of tactical teams, ensuring a top-flight position for the central European country which participates in the annual exercise run by NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence (NATO CCD COE).
With collaboration being the focus of the 14th annual exercise (the slogan being “Cooperation Is Our Protection”), ESET supplied the Slovak-Hungarian team with defensive capabilities which particularly contributed to the team’s top three placings in cyber threat intelligence, client-side protection, forensics and strategic communications, taking home an overall 4th place position among the 18 participating teams made up of similar cross-country units.
The Slovak-Hungarian team successfully followed its strategic objectives and was built not only on expertise and state-of-the-art security technologies, but most importantly on communication and intensive cooperation between the participants, who worked together to defend the vital infrastructure of fictitious country Berylia in the face of massive cyber attacks designed to cripple the country and create public unrest.
“Locked Shields promotes the concept that collaboration is one of NATO’s greatest strengths – increasing the level of protection for all member states, their people, businesses and critical infrastructure,” said Juraj Malcho, CTO of ESET. “ESET is proud to support the Slovak Ministry of Defense in this live fire exercise, by providing experts in cyber security, forensics, threat intelligence, legal and strategic communications, as well as our XDR cybersecurity platform ESET PROTECT. Together, we are stronger against any powerful adversary wishing to cause disruption.”
The Slovak team was led by the Cyber Defense Center of Slovak Military Intelligence. During the exercise, the Slovak government sector was represented by experts from the ministries of defense, finance, interior, transport, and foreign affairs. ESET’s experts and technologies contributed to the rapid detection and response to cyberattacks. Experts from the Slovak branch of Palo Alto Networks and Orange Slovensko a.s. also helped with both securing and management of the infrastructure. The team dealing with cyberspace legal challenges was led by an expert from SIGNUM legal s.r.o. talented students and their professors from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Comenius University in Bratislava, the Armed Forces Academy of general Milan Rastislav Štefánik, and young Slovak talents studying at foreign universities also came to support the national team.
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ESET provides cutting-edge digital security to prevent attacks before they happen. By combining the power of AI and human expertise, ESET stays ahead of known and emerging cyber threats — securing businesses, critical infrastructure, and individuals. Whether it’s endpoint, cloud or mobile protection, its AI-native, cloud-first solutions and services remain highly effective and easy to use. ESET technology includes robust detection and response, ultra-secure encryption, and multi-factor authentication. With 24/7 real-time defense and strong local support, we keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. An ever-evolving digital landscape demands a progressive approach to security: ESET is committed to world-class research and powerful threat intelligence, backed by R&D centers and a strong global partner network. For more information, visit www.eset.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X.