NATO’s Cyber Defense Strategy Ahead of the 2018 Brussels Summit

High profile cyber events have attracted mounting public attention in recent years as cyberattacks have become weapons of choice for international conflict. Rogue governments and non-state actors alike have attacked an array of vulnerable targets including critical energy suppliers, communications infrastructure, transportation, national elections and military operations.

At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Warsaw Summit in 2016, member states adopted a “Cyber Defense Pledge” to prioritize strategic attention and greater investment in cyber resilience by all allies. At the same time, NATO recognized cybersecurity as a new “operational domain in which NATO must defend itself as effectively as it does in the air, on land and at sea,” an implicit acknowledgement that the “digital battlespace” has become a reality. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg furthered this agenda at the NATO Defense Ministers meeting in February with the announcement of the organization’s decision to set up a Cyber Operations Centre.

On Tuesday, April 24, Hudson welcomed Christian Lifländer, the head of NATO’s Cyber Defense Section, for a discussion on how the North Atlantic Alliance is addressing the challenges of the “digital battlefield” in the run-up to the NATO Brussels Summit in July this year. The discussion was hosted by Hudson Senior Fellow Sorin Ducaru, former NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges.