The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence kicked off the Crossed Swords 2025 exercise in Tallinn, Estonia, on 4 November, bringing together 240 participants from around 40 nations, including both NATO and partner nations.
The comprehensive cyber defence exercise trains cyber defenders to carry out both defensive and full-spectrum offensive cyber operations within a simulated crisis and conflict environment.
“We have to adapt to the reality of today’s cyber threat landscape – where complex, multi-domain operations and hybrid tactics are the norm. It has become clear that in cyberspace, we need to adopt a wartime mentality, including strong offensive cyber capabilities,” Tõnis Saar, the director of centre, said in a statement.
The Crossed Swords exercise is designed to enhance the skills of both operational-level military command elements in managing offensive and defensive cyberspace capabilities and tactical-level cyber specialists.
In addition to cyber warfare training, the exercise promotes the development of multi-domain operational competencies and other cyberspace-related tactical skills, such as information operations, legal perspectives, and cooperation with Special Operations Forces.
Public-private partnership in focus
This year, a large emphasis is put into military cooperation with public and private actors throughout the exercise, who jointly take part in the military operational planning phase – reflecting the growing importance of cross-sector cooperation with focus on critical infrastructure protection across the EU and NATO.
This year’s exercise features two cyber headquarters, led by the Estonian Cyber Command and the NATO Cyber Operations Centre/NATO Cyber Security Centre, each representing fictional nations within the scenario. This combination of national and NATO-level command structures reflects the real-world complexity of modern cyber defence and decision-making across allied and partner nations.
The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence is a NATO-accredited knowledge hub located in Tallinn, Estonia, offering a unique interdisciplinary approach to the most relevant issues in cyber defence.
The centre encourages and supports the process of mainstreaming cybersecurity into NATO and national governance and capability within its closely connected focus areas of technology, strategy, operations and law.
