Teecht. Maryland Guard, Estonian Service Members Bear Cyber Exercise

By Army Maj. Kurt Rauschenberg, 58th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade

TARTU, Republic of Estonia -- Maryland National Guard cyberwarriors supported their Estonian counterparts during Exercise Hedgehog 2018, likewise known locally together with past times NATO equally Exercise Siil 2018, held hither start May 2.

Major activities are beingness conducted inwards southeast Republic of Estonia together with northern Latvia. The hold out of the practice is to develop on territorial defense, both inwards conventional together with asymmetrical warfare.

Guard members from the 175th Wing's Cyber Operations Group from Warfield Air National Guard Base, Middle River, Maryland, together with their Estonian partners employed the practice equally an chance to leverage their articulation noesis together with skills from both civilian together with armed forces backgrounds.

Cyber Scenarios

They incorporated cyber scenarios that could crusade potential threats if it were a existent situation.

One of the exercise’s goals was to prepare cyber awareness amongst physical objects to exam policy together with procedures.

The names of the practice participants are withheld due to safety considerations.

"We used a technique known equally cyber exploitation to exam [the Estonians’] internal cyber awareness," said a Maryland Guard cyberwarfare operator.

Scenarios involving rogue wireless access points, phishing attacks amongst links to a website, together with leaving quick answer codes amongst Siil eighteen branding to capture basic information from those connecting were used equally agency for testing the internal cyber awareness levels of the Estonian armed forces personnel.

There was likewise removable media loaded amongst malware, ransomware attacks, together with planting jail cellphone phones inside units to rail locations.

"Essentially, they are breaking into your house, only non stealing anything," the Maryland Guard cyberwarfare operator said. "They are leaving a overnice niggling authorities annotation behind, however, letting them know nosotros were here."

These scenarios mirror existent basis ways attackers endeavor to collect information. Obtaining such information inwards reality could allow an adversary to gain tidings of the ongoing armed forces activities together with potentially compromise planned missions.

"This is non the foremost fourth dimension the 175th COG has trained amongst the Estonian Defense Forces," the Maryland Guard cyberwarfare operator said. "Our human relationship goes dorsum at to the lowest degree nine years, if non longer."

State Partnership Program

Normally, the practice would focus primarily on air together with province operations amongst niggling to no cyber-related situations. However, incorporating the internet domain allows Republic of Estonia together with the Maryland Guard to widen the range of participation through the National Guard's State Partnership Program.

"This grooming is then valuable to practice our shared goals together with values," said an Estonian armed forces member. "The everyday tactical together with technical efforts seat centre to all the cooperation that goes into our established relationship."

The practice brings together members of the Estonian Defense League, Women's Home Defense League, together with regular Defense Force.

Estonian police, border forces together with emergency management personnel likewise participated. With cooperation from fifteen NATO allied forces, over 15,000 personnel participated inwards the exercise. The Michigan together with Oklahoma National Guard likewise participated.