Posted on May 17, 2010 - by Venik

Nato faces cyber attack threat, says study of defences

• Next attack could come down fibre optic cable, warn experts
• Russia seen as potential partner in missile defence against Iran

The world’s most powerful military alliance is increasingly vulnerable to attack by unconventional weapons and cyberwarfare in particular, Nato governments were warned today.

“The next significant attack on the alliance may well come down a fibre optic cable”, according to a draft new Nato “strategic concept”. There are unacceptable “serious gaps” in Nato’s cyber defences, it warns.

The warnings are contained in a report by a group of high-level experts chaired by Madeleine Albright, the former US secretary of state. They will provide the basis for an agreement due to be signed by Nato leaders at a summit in Lisbon in November.

Senior Nato military officials and diplomats say they are concerned about the lack of co-ordinated planning against cyber attacks. They are wrestling with the prospect of member states asking for help under article five of the Nato treaty, originally designed to provide mutual assistance to an ally faced with a conventional military attack.

Asked whether a cyber attack or the cutting off of energy supplies – also cited in the report – would in future be considered a military attack, the paper dodges the issue by stating that whether Nato’s article five would be triggered would depend on “the nature, source, scope, and other aspects of the particular security challenge”. Article five was invoked for the first, and so far only, time after the September 2001 attacks on the US. Three years ago, Estonia appealed to its Nato and EU partners for help against cyber attacks it linked to Russia.

“Already, cyber attacks against Nato systems occur frequently, but most often below the threshold of political concern,” says the Albright report. “However, the risk of a large-scale attack on Nato’s command and control systems or energy grids could readily warrant consultations … and could possibly lead to collective defence measures under article 5.”

Effective cyber defence, it continues, “requires the means to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from attacks”.

The most probable threats to Nato allies in the coming decade were unconventional, more volatile, and less predictable, according to the report. Three stand out, it says – an attack by ballistic missiles from a rogue state, strikes by international terrorist groups, and cyber assaults of varying degrees of severity.

Other threats that pose a risk include disruptions to energy and maritime supply lines, the harmful consequences of global climate change, and financial crisis.

The report also recommended that Nato’s new strategic concept should endorse “constructive re-engagement” with Russia, which should be embraced as a potential partner in a missile defence system directed principally at Iran. Nato must also win the war in Afghanistan and assure the security of its 28 members.

The report distances itself from some countries, notably those from eastern Europe, which enthusiastically backed Nato membership for Ukraine and Georgia, a prospect strongly opposed by Russia. Although the report reiterates Nato’s “open door” policy, it says only that the allies “should make regular use of the Nato-Ukraine and Nato-Georgia commissions to discuss mutual security concerns and to foster practical co-operation”.

It also states that “as long as nuclear weapons remain a reality in international relations, the alliance should retain a nuclear component to its deterrent strategy – at the minimum level required by the prevailing security environment”.

In a reference to US tactical nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, it says: “Under current security conditions, the retention of some US forward-deployed systems on European soil reinforces the principle of extended nuclear deterrence and collective defence.”

Original article

Popularity: 1% [?]

Related posts:

1. Cyber-warfare ‘is growing threat’
2. Georgian blogger Cyxymu blames Russia for cyber attack
3. Cyber attack on Russian websites
4. NATO Says It Won’t Attack Russia
5. Kremlin was behind mass cyber assault, says Georgian critic