In the event of a serious cyber attack, NATO would invoke the collective defence Article 5 if required.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, published in Prospect’s new cyber resilience supplement, said:

“Cyberthreats to the security of our alliance are becoming more frequent, more complex and more destructive. They vary from low-level attempts to technologically sophisticated attacks. They come from state and non-state actors, from close to home and the other side of the world. Malicious actors can attack anything automated and networked, including the mobile phones in our pockets or the computers controlling our critical systems and infrastructure. Attacks can affect every one of us. In the United Kingdom, the 2017 WannaCry virus crippled computers in hospitals across the country, cancelling thousands of scheduled operations and costing the National Health Service millions of pounds.

Even Nato is not immune to cyberattacks and we register suspicious activity against our systems every day.To keep us all safe, as it has been doing for 70 years, Nato is adapting to this new reality. For Nato, a serious cyberattack could trigger Article 5 of our founding treaty. This is our collective defence commitment where an attack against one ally is treated as an attack against all. We have designated cyberspace a domain in which Nato will operate and defend itself as effectively as it does in the air, on land, and at sea. This means we will deter and defend against any aggression towards allies, whether it takes place in the physical world or the virtual one.”

Stoltenberg also said:

“As we look ahead, we must continue to build a strong and diverse workforce of future cyber defenders. The UK has already started doing this with “CyberFirst,” a programme aimed at supporting and preparing undergraduates for a career in cybersecurity. We must be smart about recruiting, training and retaining highly skilled cyber experts, and make sure their skills are kept sharp through regular exercises, as we do, for instance, through our Cyber Coalition exercises.

Cyberspace is the new battleground and making Nato cyber ready—well-resourced, well-trained, and well-equipped—is a top priority as we look towards the Nato summit in London in December and beyond.”

The full article by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg features in Prospect’s new cyber resilience supplement.

George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison

27 COMMENTS

  1. Caption photo reminds me of the US command room in Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove. I will always remember Peter Sellers clutching his prothesis and inadvertently referring to the US President as ‘Mein Fuhrer’! We thought it was a joke then…how life imitates art!

  2. Article 5 would then involve NATO HQ getting chinned off at every level by the usual waste of time European Countries, who, if and when article 5 was invoked, would be too spineless to do anything, and our potential enemies know this! Aside from USA, UK, Denmark, Norway, Poland (and strangely enough i reckon Italy) and now the Baltic states, I doubt very much the rest have any intention of ever sticking together in collective defense.

    • I’m afraid you’re right, and if anything will get worse as the EU tries to establish itself as a military alliance. That might well prevent Denmark, Poland, Italy and Baltics from taking action without the EU’s approval.

    • We are already doing so, look up the Joint Cyber Unit. This is a tri-service unit and is primarily aimed at bedroom junkies who never see the light of day. The recruiting standards are not the same for normal service work.

      • Many thanks. I am glad to know this. There is a documentary entitled Zero Days about the cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear weapon programme that alleges there is a centre within the U.S.A.’s N.S.A. with a lot of rather strange young men (one wears a cloak) who do this sort of thing. It’s not unusual in advanced work to encounter truly dysfunctional types. A friend worked at a medical research centre in the U.K. and was called out to collect a man whom the local police had picked up as a derelict, wandering the streets in the early hours. ‘Does he work for you? What does he do’ asked the police. ‘Well’ answered my friend ‘he won the Noble Prize for chemistry.’

          • You will find a lot of these people suffer in one way or another from dyslexia or other brain function inability. Its just that they are wired up slightly differently.
            One of the traits that the Joint Cyber Unit is looking for is abstract thinking i.e. the ability to think either outside of the box or use logical fallacies to come up with an answer that goes against the norm.

          • Yes Davey, Aspergers is a case in point. Some of my best students have been diagnosed with the syndrome. The last one won a scholarship to Cambridge and gained a first class honours degree. They seem to possess data super-highways that us lesser mortals can only dream of!

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