Lynn Chats Cyber with NATO, EU Leaders

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III sat down at the table with NATO and European Union officials to discuss the cyber threat.

Leaders agreed NATO must take the lead in confronting them.

Coming out of the annual NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal in November, the alliance issued a joint statement warning of a cybersecurity threat that had grown “more frequent, more organized and more costly than ever.”

A senior defense official told American Forces Press Service, Lynn and his NATO and European allies would work to complete the unfinished work from Lisbon.

So far on his European junket, Lynn has worked most closely with Ambassador Gábor Iklódy of Hungary, NATO’s assistant secretary general for emerging security challenges.

Initial efforts at the summit “did not cover as much of the networks as we need,” the official said. “We do not cover 100 percent of the networks yet. At the same time, the desire resulted in a plan that was pushed four to five years out.”

One way to make ground on the challenges involves effective public-private partnerships, which Lynn, along with NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis,  detailed at a NATO roundtable yesterday.

Today, Lynn will continue the cybersecurity discussions, taking part in high-level meetings about cyber defense at NATO headquarters. He will meet with EU officials and representatives of the European Defense Agency.