The Optimal Organisational Structure for Cyber Operations Based on Exercise Lessons.

The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre (CCDCOE) of Excellence hosts annual Locked Shields (LS) and Crossed Swords (CS) cyber exercises to help NATO nations develop, train, and test their cyber capabilities. These exercises have successfully experimented with cyber capabilities and human organisational structures. However, there are still opportunities to optimise cyber exercise structures. This article employs a use case study based on these exercises to compare structures used by NATO nations in cyber exercises and cyber operations. This identified an optimal structure for operational-level cyber defence and offence exercises and proposed methods for their planning, development, and execution.