Handbook for planning, running and evaluating information technology and cyber security exercises

Cyber Defence Exercise (CDX) is a tool for raising cyber security awareness and train people to handle different situations in a controlled cyber environment. To exercise is a way of enhancing Tools, Techniques and Procedures, TTP. It’s also a way of building trust between the participants, as cooperation is needed to solve problems under stress. Failures give lessons learned and not any drastic consequences.In this handbook by the Swedish National Defence College’s Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies (CATS), Nina Wilhelmson and Thomas Svensson describes different types of exercises and in particular Red versus Blue Team Exercise. It covers the process from the first idea to the after action analysis. Thomas Svensson has been represented CATS in Baltic Cyber Shield 2010 and Locked Shields 2012 – 2014 as a member of the exercise control team (White Team). The base for the handbook has been Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) Exercise Handbook with additions and lessons learned from Cyber Defence Exercises held in cooperation between Sweden and Estonia.