NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has described the alliance’s stance on cyber defense as a “core task of collective defense” that could indicate potential joint response to cyberattacks on any member nation, GovInfoSecurity reported Friday.Eric Chabrow reports that the alliance pointed to the North American Council’s potential use of Article 5 in the NATO charter as basis for its decisions on cyberdefense, which would treat an attack on one member nation as an attack on all member nations.
“Strong partnerships play a key role in addressing cyber threats and risks,” NATO said in its Wales Summit Declaration, according to the report.
“We will, therefore, continue to engage actively on cyber issues with relevant partner nations on a case-by-case basis and with other international organizations… and will intensify our cooperation with industry through a NATO Industry Cyber Partnership.”
NATO also could look to collaborate with industry to support the alliance’s Enhanced Cyber Defense Policy, where NATO would help each member state protect their own networks as Rasmussen noted what he sees as growing threat levels of cyberattacks against the security, stability and prosperity of modern societies.
Chabrow writes that the NATO statement did not define its parameters for cyberattacks, which could present a challenge to the joint cyberdefense effort alongside identifying the source of the attack itself.
