Award to the most successful team at cyber exercise

Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš awarded the members of the Slovak team taking part in the international cyber exercise Locked Shields 2016, who conquered all the competitors, to include the best teams from 26 countries of the world. The Minister of Defence handed out letters of acknowledgement to the sixteen members of the SVK Armed Forces. “These professional soldiers represented the SVK Armed Forces in an honourable manner, which is a cause for pride and I would very much like to express my thanks to them,” said the Minister. He emphasized that the issue of cyber security is one of the security priorities of the Slovak Republic. “I am glad that it is our soldiers who show the way ahead in this field,” stated the Head of the Defence Department.

In particular he appreciated the dedication of Lt Bohumil Červenka, a creator of special defence software which significantly contributed to the victory of the SVK team. The importance of cyber security was accentuated also by the 1st Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the SVK Armed Forces Maj Gen Pavel Macko: “If we are unable to defend the cyberspace we will be susceptible to damage that would be significantly larger than the damage possibly incurred by reason of the conventional armed forces.” The exercise Locked Shields was organized by the NATO Centre of Excellence Cooperative Cyber Defence. The organizers of the exercise were based in Tallinn and the other teams took part in the exercise directly from their workplaces in their native countries.