FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. –
This month marked a significant stride in cybersecurity as U.S. Cyber Command’s Exercise Cyber Guard 2024 convened cyber professionals from across the command for this year’s first large scale exercise March 1-14.
This goal of Cyber Guard 2024 is to hone defensive capabilities and fortify collective cyber resilience. This year’s Cyber Guard integrated into the Large Scale Global Exercise (LSGE 24) for the first time, signifying a monumental collaboration.
“Cyber Guard is a critical venue to exercise interagency cooperation to respond to cybersecurity threats in real time,” said Lt. Cmdr. John Powers, the exercise lead for Cyber Guard 2024, “Working together effectively at the tactical level is essential to defending our nation and critical infrastructure against foreign adversaries.”
LSGE 24 provides a wide-ranging framework to link dozens of exercises and military operations across multiple commands and aligns them into a single effort. LSGE 24 increases and expands upon the U.S. Joint Force’s on-going training with allies and partners, to foster a mutual understanding, trust, and ability to work together to address future global security challenges.
Multinational operations like LSGE 24 and Cyber Guard 2024 are instrumental in augmenting the operational capacity of all participants. These exercises simulate a joint, high-intensity environment, elevating readiness, responsiveness, and interoperability. They are pivotal in enhancing our collective ability to collaborate, communicate, and integrate seamlessly, both in times of peace and crisis, to bolster our united front.
Cyber Guard stands as a USCYBERCOM-led joint exercise at the operational level. The exercise’s core objective is to practice a whole-of-government approach in planning and executing cyberspace operations. It also aims to fine-tune the coordination process, defining cyber roles, responsibilities, and capability development.
Exercise planners developed training objectives with an emphasis on skill development and collaboration among the various entities participating in the scenario. These exercises are meticulously designed to counter advanced persistent threats, and ensure a unified defense in the digital realm. The scenario during Cyber Guard was developed based on whole-of-nation, events, to allow operators to take full advantage of a realistic adversary with realistic cyber-attack capabilities.
USCYBERCOM leverages exercises and training events to ensure operational proficiency in safeguarding Department of Defense information networks. A robust training schedule provides opportunities to train in a contested cyberspace environment and tests our cyber professionals' agility in supporting components to uphold our nation’s cyber defense.