NATO’s cyber defence: strategic challenges and institutional adaptation

Abstract

NATO’s adaptation in the post-cold war era has included a growing role in responding to cyber attacks. This article explores the definitional and theoretical problems in analysing the emerging cyber security field and seeks to provide an outline of the main strategic challenges that cyber attacks pose for NATO. The article evaluates the institutional structures and processes put in place by NATO to confront cyber threats and moves on to explore the extent of transatlantic unity around NATO’s emerging doctrine for cyber defence. It is argued that NATO’s response to cyber security is rooted in its prior adaptation to the changing security environment of the 1990s and the threat from international terrorism post 9-11. More recently, cyber attacks from state and state-sponsored actors have given impetus to NATO’s emerging cyber security doctrine. The article finds that despite recent controversies over cyber surveillance, there is a considerable degree of unity within the alliance on the main cyber security issues. As a multilateral security organisation with a strong institutional foundation, NATO is also relatively well placed to respond to rapidly evolving cyber threats.

Keywords:

• NATO
• cyber defence
• cyber security
• strategy
• institutional adaptation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. NATO is continuing to work to support the Afghan National Security Forces through Operation Resolute Support.

2. The US has not officially acknowledged involvement in the Stuxnet attack, but the software is widely considered to have been developed and deployed by the US and Israeli governments.

3. This attack will be discussed further in a later section. Estonia joined NATO in 2004 and the incident provoked considerable debate over whether NATO should invoke Article 5 in response to the attacks.

4. Cyber espionage is considered here as distinct from industrial espionage which is conducted by and against private businesses.

5. During the Bosnian conflict 692,000 refugees fled into other countries including over 300,000 to Germany. This led to pressure for NATO intervention.

6. The Estonia attacks in 2007, for example, were arguably deeply caught up in Estonian and Russian identity politics.

7. One of 10 NATO sponsored centres of excellence dedicated to a variety of contemporary security issues, including countering Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Energy Security, Defence against Terrorism and Joint Air Power Competence.

8. ICI partnership countries: Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates; MD partnership countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia; EAPC partnership countries: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.