NATO forms offensive cyber forces
Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg announced the creation of an offensive cyber force to protect the Alliance's national information networks.
“We see a significant increase in the number and threat of cyber-attacks. That is why we have increased our cyber capabilities, both to protect NATO information networks and to help the countries of the alliance to defend their national networks,” he said.
Before negotiations between the NATO defense ministers, Stoltenberg noted that the new structure would prevent interference in the internal affairs of the alliance’s states.
“We have witnessed how cyber means are used to interfere in internal political affairs, attacks on critical infrastructure. These capabilities will be part of any future military conflicts. Therefore, we have decided that cyber-attacks can lead to the application of the fifth article on joint defense,” RIA Novosti cited the Secretary General as saying.
According to him, the cyber military units will have a huge impact in combat against the Islamic State and will expand the defense capabilities of NATO states.