BIATOBRZEGI, Poland -- Nameless and deep within a secured building in a room with no windows, a Polish noncommissioned officer stares intently at a computer screen with two empty cans of an energy drink and a candy wrapper on his desk.
There, fueled by caffeine and sugar, he plans to disrupt the allied computer networks.
This Polish Soldier was not alone. He was joined by about 75 other troops from Poland, the United States, Latvia, Estonia, Spain, Lithuania and Hungary.
Part of this contingent, including this Polish NCO, were the anonymous opposing forces -- the two "red teams" that played the "bad guys." They challenged the "blue team," which was charged with protecting the networks. Still another team, the "white team" closely monitored both the tactical and operational networks for any sign of trouble.
All the teams were there to improve the allied response to cyber attacks. Another objective was to ensure network problems didn't affect the troops' ability to transmit the information needed during any future real-life contingency. It was the first time a multi-national approach to cyber defense was used in the Anakonda exercise.
Multi-national involvement meant more than just defending against the red teams' attacks, said Polish Air Force Lt. Col. Dariusz Luczak, an information technology specialist with the Polish General Command's Polish Mission Network. Polish cyber Warriors were from both General Command and Operational Command.
"The exercise is very good to link up systems. In theory, our systems should work together. So, why do they not work?" said Luczak.
By working together, the teams overcame those technical issues and established a baseline for future operations, Luczak said. But, the opposing forces did add more realism and training value to the exercise.
"Especially at night … I expect they will try and make a big mess at the very end," Luczak added.
"This is the place where we can exchange ideas for the future," said Col. James Crossley, the Chief of Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities for U.S. Army Europe.
U.S. forces included Soldiers from the 5th Signal Command, the Regional Cyber Center, and the U.S. Army Cyber Command as well as cyber Warriors from subordinate commands involved in the exercise.
"This is about getting the process down where we can effectively pass data (between allies.) We don't want to be trying to figure that out while the enemy is attacking," Crossley said.
That process is often more about people and relationships, than the technology, said Polish Army Lt. Col. Tomasz Lewanowski, the chief of the Polish Mission Network Operations Center.
"To me, this is just confirmation that (allied cooperation in information technology) is possible. I spent six months in Afghanistan and sometimes it was a simple thing to solve a problem, but you needed that (liaison officer) to find the guy who had the right access to fix it," Lewanowski said. "For the future, we will not have to look for new processes. We have established them here."
Sgt. Eric Chavez, the 4th Infantry Division liaison officer to the "white team," said the cooperation between the allied forces has been a great learning experience.
"Our Army does things a little differently than their forces. We take away as much from them as they take away from us," Chavez said.
Chavez, a native of Phoenix, said U.S. information technology troops tend to try and "jump the wall" to solve problems. "These guys go layer by layer. They want to get at the root of the problem," he said. "They've taught me to look at the little stuff."
Polish Navy Lt. junior grade Robert Szczecina, an expert in analyzing malware, led the multi-national blue team in defending the network against the opposing forces. "This is the first time we've combined cyber defense in a real time exercise. It has been very good. We have all the core components of cyber defense here," Szczecina said.
There was a healthy rivalry, and some begrudging respect, between the opposing forces and the cyber defenders. For example, the opposing forces sent out an e-mail telling users that the commanding general had made the soccer game between Poland and Northern Ireland available on the network. The link to the "game" completely disabled the users' computers.
"This was a very good idea," Szczecina said. "Social engineering is a good way to get at the network. They really thought things through." But, he would not concede. "They are getting better, but we are getting better too. In my opinion, we are winning."
The Polish NCO laughed with his Latvian, Spanish and U.S. "bad guys" when told the "blue team" thought they were winning. "When we gain credentials from one scenario, we will use them in another. We need to hide before them -- hide, and not be detected. We do attack and they observe and adapt, and then we adapt to them," he said.
Then he revealed that he had found a way to change the digital display on a Polish lieutenant general's phone to read "You have been hacked."
"Maybe he will be mad and when people get mad they make decisions on emotion, not reason."
And that's what the "bad guys" do, because, as the anonymous Polish Soldier said "It is fun."
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