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This giant c​yberwar game pits defenders against malware, hybrid and mobile attacks

The Cyber Coalition exercise is the biggest held by NATO.
Written by Steve Ranger, Global News Director

Video: What business should learn from the EU's cyber war games

NATO's most important cyber defence exercise takes place this week in Estonia.

The Cyber Coalition cyberwar game involves more than 700 people across 25 NATO member states, plus NATO allies, the European Union, industry, and academia.

The cyberwar game, now in its tenth year, tests and trains cyber defenders from across the Alliance in their ability to defend NATO and national networks.

The event includes malware attacks on essential infrastructure, hybrid challenges involving social media, and attacks on mobile devices.

"The exercise has a challenging, realistic scenario that helps prepare our cyber defenders for real-life cyber challenges," NATO said.

The training includes testing of operational and legal procedures. The three-day exercise is run from the NATO Cyber Range in Estonia, although most of the people taking part will do so remotely from their own countries.

"Cyber defence is part of NATO's core task of collective defence and staying ahead of the curve on cyber defence is a top priority for the Alliance. Exercises like Cyber Coalition are part of that effort. They help to improve NATO and Allies' abilities to defend their networks, as well as our coordination in case of a cyber attack," the alliance said.

Cyber defence exercises like this have been rising in importance in recent years, as the threat of digital attacks has become clearer. NATO, the largest military alliance in the world, has been gradually increasing its focus on cyberwarfare over the last few years. Earlier this month, NATO said it wanted to add the cyberwarfare capabilities of member states to its range of military options.

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