Nato Biggest ever cyber war game puts allies to test

Russia and China were barely mentioned, but they were the threats in everyone's minds in Tallinn this week, where Nato hosted its largest ever cyber war game.

- Robert Booth

The goal of the war game, conducted in the Estonian capital, 130 miles from the border with Russia, was to test the alliance's readiness for a rolling enemy assault on civilian and military digital infrastructure.

It involved hundreds of multinational troops, representing 29 Nato nations and seven allies, including Ukraine, hunkered down in CyberRange14, a facility established by the Estonian ministry of defence after a crippling Russian cyber-attack in 2007, where Nato has run preparedness exercises since 2014.

Those involved looked drained as the seven-day cyber battle ended. They had endured simulated sudden power cuts, jammed satellites, blocked ports and public chaos. Their combat fatigues stayed spotless as they fought malware, not missiles.

The players had to focus on responding to mysterious complex computer collapses in their own countries while also sharing fixes globally with more than 1,000 other military and civilian personnel engaged from Tokyo to Texas.

It was, said one participant, like "juggling a football, solving a Rubik's cube and talking with your neighbour" all at the same time.