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NATO Deputy SecGen Geoana: Cybersecurity, part of new type of war
Cybersecurity is part of the new type of war, the Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mircea Geoana, had an intervention on Tuesday via video link at a conference titled "Building Blocks of Global Digitalisation: creating trust, deterrence & policy coordination through cyber diplomacy".
"Besides disinformation and digital espionage, cybersecurity is part of a new type of war. On the day of the invasion [of Ukraine] by Russia, there were large-scale cyberattacks on the government, army and critical infrastructure. The continuous use of these attacks aims at interrupting or stopping the cyberdefence system of Ukraine," he said.
In this context, the NATO Deputy Secretary General deemed the consolidation of cybersecurity as "essential to increasing the resilience of our societies and for the security of our people, in peace time, in moments of crisis and in moments of conflict."
"It's a crucial aspect for the defence and deterrence roles, that is why it is a priority of the current NATO agenda," Geoana emphasized.
He also spoke of the allied support that Ukraine is receiving in this domain.
"NATO experts in Brussels frequently exchange information with their Ukrainian counterparts and are offering assistance," Mircea Geoana said.
The NATO Deputy Secretary General drew attention that Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina "present the risk of being targets of Russian aggression." "So we are supplementing our adapted support, both from a political point of view, as well as a practical one, in order to consolidate resilience and stop other aggressions, including in the cyber domain," he said.
In this context, British Ambassador in Bucharest Andrew Noble said on Tuesday that Governments cannot respond to cyber threats on their own, but all citizens need to take on the role they have in the online environment.
Attending the conference "Building Blocks of Global Digitalisation: creating trust, deterrence & policy coordination through cyber diplomacy", the British diplomat said that the cyber environment is becoming a space of confrontation of the different worldviews and values.
He showed that evil-minded states are seeking greater sovereignty that does not respect national borders, citing the actions of countries such as Russia and China.
In this regard, the British ambassador spoke of the need for collective action to counter opponents.
Governments cannot respond to these threats alone. We need the help of society as a whole, namely companies, researchers, technology companies and ordinary citizens. In the UK, we have launched a directive aimed at ordinary citizens, so as to make sure that they know their individual role in national defence and are not just a vector of someone else's attack. Everyone has a role to play in shaping a safer, more prosperous and more open cyberspace, he said.
Andrew Noble also highlighted the need for rules to "govern" cyberspace.
The more we are, the stronger we are when it comes to holding those responsible for cyberattacks. It is important to shape the rules of common governance of the digital world. We will have an inclusive approach that holds in high esteem human rights and counteracts authoritarian tendencies and that will continue to promote the UN framework for responsible cyber-behavior, he went on to say.