CDA 64 Hosts Exercise Cyber Swoop

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class William Sykes | 200728-N-XK809-1001 LAUREL, Md. (Jul. 28, 2020) U.S. Navy Sailors and civilians, assigned to a Cyber Protection Team (CPT), participate in exercise Cyber Swoop. Cyber Swoop, hosted by Cyber Defense Activity 64, trains and assesses CPTs inside a simulation of the entire process of a deployment in support of valid mission requirements. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class William Sykes/Released)  

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, ME, UNITED STATES

08.05.2020

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class William Sykes 

U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. 10th Fleet

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (NNS) – Cyber Defense Activity (CDA) 64 hosted a defensive cyber exercise 'Cyber Swoop' in Laurel, Md. July 17-31.

Cyber Swoop is designed to train and assess a Cyber Protection Team (CPT) during a simulated deployment in support of valid mission requirements.

“This is one of the only places that we can actually do our job in a simulated environment,” said Chief Cryptologic Technician (Networks) Patrick Barry, exercise lead, assigned to CDA 64. “We assess each CPT’s mission element, figure out if they meet the Navy’s standard for CPTs and how they can improve. We have suggestions at the end for training and different things that the teams can go back to and improve upon.”

The mission given to teams during the exercise is to execute an intelligence-driven hunt action based on a potentially compromised network located in a fictional country.

“We build a profile for the environment so it’s not just a dead environment,” said Chief Cryptologic Technician (Networks) Joshua Thibodeaux, exercise lead, assigned to CDA 64. “There is actual infrastructure that’s supporting and we are hosting our own web services with content about fictional countries and fictional actors for material. We build the OPFOR (opposing forces) plan so that all the executions are modeled on our own adversaries and develop in-house actions to be carried out.”

Compared to most exercises in the cyber community or in the Navy, there are very few white cards in Cyber Swoop.

“A white card is a simulated event,” said Thibodeaux. “If you are talking about kinetic exercises with the fleet and we decide we are going to jam the RF (radio frequency) spectrum, we don’t really jam the RF spectrum. We just simulate that and tell the adversary they can no longer use that RF Spectrum for the exercise. In Cyber Swoop, if a team requests an action, the action is actually completed. If our OPFORs need to do something, they actually engage that.”

Three CPTs participated in exercise Cyber Swoop. Two of the teams consisted of Navy personnel while the third team consisted of Marine Corps personnel.

FCC is responsible for Navy information network operations, offensive and defensive cyberspace operations, space operations, and signals intelligence. Comprised of more than 14,000 Sailors, Reservists and civilians stationed across the world, C10F is the operational arm of FCC and executes its mission through a task force structure similar to other warfare commanders.

For news and information from Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. 10th Fleet, visit www.FCC.navy.mil/ or follow us on twitter @USFLEETCYBERCOM and on facebook @USFLTCYBERCOM

• Date Taken: 08.05.2020
• Date Posted: 08.05.2020 09:34
• Story ID: 375299
• Location: FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, ME, US