CyberWire Daily Cyber without borders: The human side of cyber defense. [Special Edition]
Feb 23, 2026
Major Tyler Smith, a cyber operations attorney with the U.S. 16th Air Force, explains legal-team scenarios and cross-border information-sharing challenges. The conversation covers a day inside NATO’s cyber headquarters. Topics include collaborative defensive exercises, legal limits on sharing, coordination with civilian infrastructure, and how rapport and procedures shape multinational cyber defense.
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Morning Walk Past Ministries With Ukraine Flag
- Maria Varmazes describes walking past Estonian ministries with the Ukrainian flag flying alongside Estonia's flag on the morning of Dec 2, 2025.
- The visit was timed amid news of a possible Russia–US negotiation, giving the exercise palpable geopolitical context.
Make Legal Exercises Force Real Sharing Decisions
- Major Tyler Smith emphasizes designing legal playlines that force participants to examine national laws and domestic policy on information sharing.
- He framed exercises with concrete sharing questions so legal teams test what and how they'd share with specific partner nations.
Exercise Emphasizes Defensive Work And Civilian Coordination
- Cyber Coalition focuses on non‑offensive detection, deferment, and defense across diverse scenarios including space and legal storylines.
- Exercises include civilian industry coordination because militaries often operate on infrastructure they don't own.