NIS to Join NATO's Largest-Ever Cyber Defense Exercise for Fifth Consecutive Year

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) announced on May 2 that it will participate in "Locked Shields 2025," the world's largest cyber defense exercise, hosted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), from May 5 to 9. The NIS has participated in this exercise every year since 2021, making this its fifth consecutive year.

The NIS stated that it will form a joint team with Canada for this year's exercise. From South Korea, a record number of approximately 170 experts from 47 organizations across the public, private, and military sectors will join the joint team.

In particular, experts from about 20 companies that are members of "Cyber Partners"?a public-private cyber security cooperation body launched in September last year?will also participate, gaining hands-on experience in nationwide cyber attack and defense exercises. Companies participating in Cyber Partners include KT, LG CNS, Naver Cloud, Samsung SDS, and Shinhan Bank.

"Locked Shields" is a real-time cyberattack response exercise held annually since 2010 to strengthen cyber crisis response cooperation among NATO CCDCOE member countries. This year, around 4,000 cyber experts from 39 countries worldwide are expected to participate. South Korea became a full member of the CCDCOE in 2022, the first country in Asia to do so.

Yoon Ojun, the third deputy director of the NIS, said, "This exercise is significant as it marks the first time that the public, private, and military sectors are joining forces to participate on the international stage. Through this global exercise, we expect to further advance our country's cyber security capabilities and enhance our international standing."