EU tests cyber defences with fake attack

Simulation involved drone hijacking, network viruses and a total loss of communications with naval forces

Hackers have sabotaged the EU's naval command in the Mediterranean. Ships have lost communication with mission command, and a massive social media campaign is provoking protests.

That is the scenario used in a training exercise by the European Union as it tested its cyber defences this week.

Each of the EU's 28 defence ministers was presented with and tried to contain the crisis over the course of a 90-minute session, taking place in Tallinn. It was the first mock drill of its kind taking place at such a senior level.

Tanel Sepp, deputy director for cyber planning at Estonia's defence ministry, said, "We want to show ministers the impact of cyber campaigns... Cyber has become a conventional tool in modern warfare." Sepp was one of those who helped to plan the exercise, which is known as 'EU CYBRID 2017'.

NATO is one of the organisations that acknowledges the threat of cyber on a national scale. Its Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said that cyber attacks against NATO's networks had risen 60 per cent in the past year.

Among the challenges that ministers had to deal with were the loss of drones, through server problems or interception; viruses attacking networks; and the loss of communication with ships. Ministers were given tablet computers and had to answer multiple-choice questions on how to best proceed as the exercise continued.

"We are not creating programmers from the ministers but we want them to understand that these quickly developing situations could demand quick political decisions—that's the idea of the exercise," said Estonian Defence Minister Juri Luik.

Estonia holds the presidency of the EU this year, and has made digital one of its priorities. The country is one of the world's most connected, with a separate cyber command for its armed forces. It has been particularly vigilant in light of the growing Russian cyber threat in recent years. Russia used similar hybrid tactics - combining cyber warfare, misinformation and physical presence - during its annexation of the Crimea region from Ukraine in 2014.