International cooperation to counter cyber threats against military mobility

Finland, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and the United States trained the protection of logistical nodes critical for military mobility from cyber threats in exercise Cyber Byte from 27 April to 13 May 2026. The exercise involved enhancing inter-authority cooperation between the Defence Forces, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency with the aim of preventing cyber threats.

The objective of the exercise was to develop the cyber protection of militarily critical logistics chains multilaterally in the northern area of NATO. The main phase of the exercise was executed in Sweden from 27 April to 13 May 2026. The exercise consisted of training in a simulated environment carried out in Sweden and protection measures conducted nationally in the participating countries. This contributed to both joint ability and national readiness to respond to cyber threats.

- Responding to real-world threats requires cooperation both between different authorities and Allies. Efficient operation between the Defence Forces and Allies relies on both civilian and military systems. Working together is the only way of ensuring that troops and material arrive at the right place at the right time regardless of threats posed by the cyber environment, emphasises Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff (Cyber), Defence Command C5 Division (J6), Colonel Juha Peltomäki.

- It has been a great pleasure to facilitate and arrange this year's defensive cyber operations exercise Cyber Byte together with our Allies. Exercises like this enhance our capability to meet and outpace the advanced persistent threats we are facing in the cyber domain, says the Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces' Cyber Command, Colonel Thomas Höglund.

In Finland, the key goal of the exercise was to develop the cooperation between the Defence Forces, Traficom's National Cyber Security Centre and the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency aimed at protecting assets vital for security of supply and military mobility infrastructure. Military transports often use the same routes and logistical nodes as civilian logistics, which makes the cooperation between authorities all the more important.

- Cyber threats do not know national borders or areas of responsibility of authorities. This is why close cooperation and generation of shared situational picture nationally and internationally are aspects indispensable for being able to respond to threats effectively, says Director Pekka Jokinen from Traficom's Cyber Security Centre.

Jokinen points out that cooperation between civilian and military authorities is a well-established and regular way of working in Finland. However, how to further strengthen this cooperation and extend it to new areas is under constant consideration. Exercise Cyber Byte is a concrete and current example of this.

Cyber Byte 26 is part of the Defence Forces' 2026 training and exercise activities. Participation in the exercise was led by the Finnish Defence Forces C5 Agency, FDFC5A with personnel from different Defence Forces organisations taking part in it.