NATO Tools Up For Cybewar

Just like air, sea, land and space, now cyberspace is officially considered a likely battlefield by the world's biggest military alliance.

The North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO) has officially declared that cyberspace is a domain for war, placing it alongside the traditional battlegrounds of land, sea and air.

The move is a reflection of changing warfare tactics, where cyber-attacks are just as crucial and effective as more traditional methods.

Several recent incidents have shown that hackers can cause just as much damage as more traditional military attacks: for example, part of the Ukrainian power grid was attacked by hackers, causing blackouts, while the US accused Iranians of attempting to hack into the control system of a dam.

Speaking at the meeting where the declaration was made, NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: “[This] means that we will coordinate and organize our efforts to protect against cyber-attacks in a better and more efficient way. This is about developing our capabilities and ability to partly protect NATO cyber networks but also to help and assist nations in defending their cyber networks.”

“Since it's very hard to imagine a military conflict today without a cyber dimension, this is important, related to almost all possible conflicts we can foresee in the future,” he added.

It means NATO members can work together and support each other on cyber defenses. “This is about a better framework to manage resources, skills and capabilities, and better coordination of our decisions,” Stoltenberg said.

NATO added that under its new directives, a cyber-attack on a NATO ally can trigger Article 5 - this is when an attack on one is considered an attack on all, and can result in a collective response.

However, it’s not just in Article 5 situations where NATO’s declaration could have an impact. NATO’s work in Afghanistan, for example, could benefit from a collective defense of its network to ensure it is safe from hackers or other malicious activity that could reduce its effectiveness, Stoltenberg said.

Despite this, the declaration has drawn criticism from some security experts. Simon Crosby, CTO and co-founder of Bromium, believes NATO lacks the resources to defend its members from cyber-attacks as a collective.

“The idea of NATO is a collective capability for defense, which when any one member is attacked can trigger the appropriate defensive military action. In cyber, NATO has none. Instead, individual member countries, to varying degrees’ cooperative or suspicious, more or less collaborates to share information on threats,” he said.

“The organization was founded to protect the members by, in extremes, deploying conventional non-cyber assets to effectively combat a threat on any member of the coalition. But NATO has no assets to deploy in the cyber domain. Each member has carefully managed its own cyber-attack techniques, tools and strategies. They each know the vulnerabilities and weak spots of their foes, and all of their peers in NATO. NATO cannot deploy assets to mitigate a cyber-attack,” Crosby added.

Ein News:      Infosecurity

« The Secret History of Cyber War
Snowden Calls For Special Protection For Whistleblowers »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Syxsense

Syxsense

Syxsense brings together endpoint management and security for greater efficiency and collaboration between IT management and security teams.

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North IT (North Infosec Testing) are an award-winning provider of web, software, and application penetration testing.

Clayden Law

Clayden Law

Clayden Law advise global businesses that buy and sell technology products and services. We are experts in information technology, data privacy and cybersecurity law.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

CNCERT/CC

CNCERT/CC

CNCERT is the national Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team / Coordination Center of China.

Backup Systems

Backup Systems

Backup Systems is a leading backup and disaster recovery systems provider across the UK.

Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells is an international business law firm with offices across Europe, Asia and the USA. Practice areas include Privacy & Cybersecurity.

EIT Digital

EIT Digital

EIT Digital is a leading digital innovation and entrepreneurial education organisation driving Europe’s digital transformation. Areas of focus include digital infrastructure and cyber security.

Software Factory

Software Factory

Software Factory develops custom-built high-performance software solutions and products for applications including industrial cyber security.

Cymulate

Cymulate

Cymulate is a SaaS-based breach and attack simulation platform that makes it simple to know and optimize your security posture any time, all the time.

Wallarm

Wallarm

Wallarm offers an adaptive security platform including an integrated Web vulnerability scanner and NG-WAF solution with automatically generated security rules based on AI.

ICTSecurity Portal

ICTSecurity Portal

The ICTSecurity Portal is an interministerial initiative in cooperation with the Austrian economy and acts as a central internet portal for topics related to security in the digital world.

Combis

Combis

COMBIS is a regional high-tech ICT company focused on the development of application, communication, security and system solutions and the provision of services.

Intuity

Intuity

The Intuity suite of services provides companies with a complete awareness of their security status and helps them in an efficient, efficient and sustainable improvement process.

CyberSAFE Malaysia

CyberSAFE Malaysia

CyberSAFE Malaysia is an initiative to educate and enhance the awareness of the general public on the technological and social issues and risks facing internet users.

Tech Nation

Tech Nation

Tech Nation is the UK’s first national scaleup programme for the cyber security sector, aimed at ambitious tech companies ready for growth, at home and abroad.

PT Prima Cyber Solusi

PT Prima Cyber Solusi

PT Prima Cyber Solusi is focused on protecting your business from the massive and devastating impacts that cyber-attacks may cause.

Cloud4C

Cloud4C

Cloud4C is a leading automation-driven, application focused cloud Managed Services Provider.

North Green Security

North Green Security

North Green Security is a UK-based cyber security training and consultancy company.

Mindflow

Mindflow

Mindflow is dedicated to bringing answers to the challenges the cybersecurity field and beyond face today.