Recently, I had the chance to participate in Locked Shields 2026 — organized annually by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) and known as the world’s largest live-fire cyber defense exercise.

During the exercise, allied nations defend realistic simulated critical infrastructure against continuous attacks from a live Red Team.

My Role: Blue Team 04 (Lithuania – Japan)

I was embedded with the ThreatHunters sub-team within Blue Team 04, a joint team of Lithuanian and Japanese specialists.

Coming primarily from an offensive security and penetration testing background, joining a threat hunting unit was a great experience:

• Looking at contested networks through an attacker’s lens helps anticipate how adversary footholds are established and moved.
• The pace was fast, the pressure was real, and coordinating in real time with our counterparts from Japan was a highlight of the exercise.

Surviving the chaos, learning from top-tier practitioners, and proving that an offensive mindset is just as critical for defense made it an incredible week.

Looking forward to the next one! ✌️