North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
June 10, 2013
ATTACKS FROM CYBERSPACE…NATO’S NEWEST AND POTENTIALLY BIGGEST THREAT
“From the Cockpit”
Phil Breedlove
General, USAF
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Commander, U.S. European Command
Our NATO team is adept at working together to ensure the territorial integrity of each of our nations is preserved and defended from external attacks. Since the formation of the alliance in 1949 the members have grown and improved their military capabilities…We have over these many years concentrated primarily on dealing with kinetic and physical threats like tanks and missiles; however today as an alliance we are taking on a less seen but very destructive threat from a new source…cyberspace.
In 2007 Estonia endured a four-day full-scale cyber attack that disrupted the country’s banks, media and political institutions. The attack shook the international community and brought the cyber threat into focus. In that same year NATO established and began developing the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, based in Tallinn, Estonia, which concentrates efforts on research and training…
Last week, for the first time in NATO’s history, cyber security was placed front and centre on the agenda when our defence ministers met in Brussels. The ministers and others discussed…the role of newly forming rapid response teams.
As NATO Secretary General Rasmussen has said, “Cyber attacks do not stop at national borders; our defenses should not, either.”
Allied Command Operations (ACO) is at the core of NATO’s cyber defence efforts, providing technical and operation cyber security services. Working relentlessly to monitor, maintain and improve the networks, ACO has significantly strengthened its cyber defence systems in the headquarters as well as with our forces deployed on operations. But, again, this is a continuous evolving challenge and we must continue to adapt.
The heart of our cyber security efforts is NATO’s Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) centre, which provides technical and operational cyber security services. A major upgrade of the centre is currently underway that will give it enhanced detection, sensor and forensic capabilities. We are also looking at how to establish Rapid Reaction Teams to project cyber defensive capability when needed.
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Cyber attackers are constantly adapting so we need to stay vigilant and remain one step ahead and that’s what we are doing. Our capabilities across the alliance to take on the full spectrum of threats will continue to grow and that is how we remain committed to securing our future together.
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