Introduction
Cyberspace is NATO’s fourth domain of operations along with
air, sea and land. The Alliance’s cyber defence is part of NATO’s core task of
collective defence which means that a cyberattack on any one Ally will be
treated as an attack against all. NATO has been steadily protecting its own
networks, as well as enhancing resilience across the Alliance by encouraging
member states to make voluntary contributions of their national cyber
capabilities, defensive and offensive, in the framework of strong political oversight.
However, it is not yet clear how the sovereign cyber effects will contribute to
the resilience and operational capacity of NATO.
Cyber Policy and Strategy Evolution
In January 2008, NATO adopted its first Policy on Cyber
Defence. The Alliances’ urgent decision was prompted by the cyberattacks
against Estonian critical infrastructure and it was subsequent to the lasting
political efforts of the Allied leaders. The 2010 NATO Strategic Concept,
adopted at the Lisbon Summit, called for the North Atlantic Council (NAC) to
develop a new cyber defence policy to coordinate the national efforts aimed at
enhancing network protection. Consequently, the second Policy on Cyber Defence
and the corresponding implementation plan were approved by NATO Ministers of
Defence and were further introduced into the Defence Planning Process.
Acknowledging the importance of member states’ coordinated
efforts to strengthen resilience across the Alliance, the Allied leaders agreed
at the 2012 Chicago summit to upgrade their defences by bringing all of NATO’s
networks under centralised protection. They also set in motion the
establishment of NATO Communications and Information Agency which became fully
operational in 2014. [1]
Read also: NATO Space policy: Integrated response to incoming threats
However, key decision providing for the integration of the
Allies’ offensive cyber capabilities into Alliance operations and missions was
announced only at the 2016 Warsaw Summit with Allied Heads of State and
Government reiterating the inherently defensive mandate of NATO. The decision
was shortly supported by the defense ministers who also expressed their
confidence that Allies would maintain full ownership of their contributions,
just like they own conventional arms deployed in NATO missions[2].
A clear visionary on how to integrate sovereign cyber
effects into the Alliance operations and missions “in order to deter, defend
against, and to counter the full spectrum of cyber threats, including those
conducted within hybrid warfare” was contoured at the 2018 Summit in Brussels.[3]
The Summit declaration provides that as in the case of conventional arms
deployment, Allies may voluntarily contribute their offensive cyber weapons to
joint exercises, as well as to real-time military operations and missions.
Furthermore, member states may attribute malicious cyber activity and respond
in a coordinated manner to the emerging cyber threats, though an appropriate
decision remains a national government’s prerogative.
Cyber Defence Pledge
The Alliance is only as strong as its weakest link. Thus,
for the purpose of strengthening and
enhancing their national networks and infrastructure, member states made Cyber
Defence Pledge. The Pledge shortly followed the 2016 Warsaw Summit decision
acknowledging cyberspace as an operations domain and was taken in the context
of Article 3 of the Founding Treaty, which states that “Allies will maintain
and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack”.
The Cyber Defence Pledge encourages Allies to take a whole-of-government
adaptation approach by addressing cyber defence at the highest strategic level,
integrating it into the national operations and extending coverage to
deployable networks. Besides, member states must allocate resources to enhance
training, information-sharing, and trust-building in cyber both between key
stakeholders at home and across the Alliance. [4]
Learn more: Implications of Russia`s A2/AD capabilities in Kaliningrad for NATO security
Progress made on the Cyber Defence Pledge was duly
appreciated by Secretary General Stoltenberg in his remarks at the 2nd NATO
Cyber Defence Conference. In particular, Mr. Stoltenberg noted that the Allies
“strengthened their cyber capabilities, … improved their legal and
institutional frameworks, and … increased the resources – people and money –
devoted to confronting cyber threats.” In Luxembourg, for example, a Tech
Academy was established while in the United Kingdom the “CyberFirst” school was
founded by the National Cyber Security Centre. All of this increased NATO cyber
defences in such a way as to have made its networks fully resilient to all the
incidents that have occurred since the Pledge.[5]
Also, as part of its cyber defence policy, NATO is
establishing a new Cyber Operations Centre (CyOC) in Belgium that will be fully
operational in 2023. As of 2018 CyOC was in its trial structure, serving as a
focal point of operations coordination in cyberspace. In particular, it
provides cyberspace situational awareness, centralised planning and
coordination of other operational concerns for the cyberspace aspects of
operations and missions. [6]
Cyberspace Exercises
Along with the organizational adaptation, NATO member states
integrate cyber component into regular joint exercises, as well as render the
cyber-specific ones. For instance, in 2018 the Allies and partners arranged
Cyber Coalition – NATO’s flagship cyber defence exercise with over 700 participants
– during which for the first time the integration of sovereign cyber effects
voluntarily provided by the Allies was successfully exercised.[7]
In the same year NATO organized its largest exercise in
decades called Trident Juncture, where Allies and partner countries (overall
50,000 participants) tested their ability to defend, deter and operate together
in the air, on land, at sea and in cyberspace. No less robust cyber scenario
was included into the Crisis Management Exercise, arranged for the purpose of
enhancing the Headquarters abilities in cyber defence.
Way Forward
The use of collective countermeasures to cyberattacks in
NATO is subject to each Ally’s voluntary decision allowing to draw on its
sovereign cyber effects. However, as cyberspace is becoming an integral
component of the Alliance’s operations and missions through increased joint
exercises and coordination, the integration of national cyber effects is
enhancing NATO resilience and operational capacity in cyberspace.
[2] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_148359.htm?selectedLocale=en
[3] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_156624.htm
[4] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_133177.htm
[5] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_166039.htm?selectedLocale=en
[6] https://www.nato.int/docu/review/2019/Also-in-2019/natos-role-in-cyberspace-alliance-defence/EN/index.htm
[7] https://shape.nato.int/news-archive/2018/final-planning-conference-held-for-nato-cyber-coalition-2018