On Feb. 1st, 2012, Spencer Ackerman reported for Wired on NATO's view of cybersecurity. The general impression is that NATO is unsure what to make of cyber-threats and cybersecurity in general. For example, NATO is based on the idea of collective defense for its member nations; an attack on one is an attack on all. However, how would collective defense work in cyberspace? The article noted that the US military doesn't even have the authority to protect US civilian networks. As such, what would NATO do if US civilian networks came under cyberattack?
Moreover, the article questioned what sort of cyberattack would trigger a NATO response. We can probably assume that general cyber-espionage would not trigger an Article 5 response. What about an attack on a member's critical infrastructure? Or an attack on a member state's military networks?
The article pointed out that NATO is just starting to wrap its head around the problem. For what it's worth, just about everyone is beginning to wrap their heads around the cybersecurity problem. NATO isn't totally behind the curve. The article concluded by quoting Jamie Shea, NATO Chief for confronting emerging security challenges: "I don't see NATO developing [an] offensive cyber doctrine for the time being."
You can find the Wired source article here.
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