NATO mulls cyber alliance proposal

Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III discussed a five-pillar strategy in late September with NATO leaders in Europe in efforts to promote joint cybersecurity initiatives. Lynn held the discussion with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen before delivering a briefing to the alliance's North Atlantic Council on U.S. cyber initiatives, according to a press services report.

This came on the heels of NATO’s Military Committee discussion of their updated strategy. This updated strategy addresses the new threats NATO faces -- cyber attacks, missiles and terrorism. Although the topic of cyber conflict was discussed in detail, no specific outcomes resulted nor were they expected. NATO has already established its Cyber Incident Response Center and plans to bring it to full operational capability shortly.

This is all taking place as the Defense Department has expressed concern over China's rapidly evolving cyber warfare capabilities. Add that concern to the rare comment by the head of British MI5 about the threat of terrorism and cyber terrorism and a concerning mental picture comes into focus. Cyberattacks are growing in intensity and sophistication, according to Harry Raduege, former director at the Defense Information systems Agency and currently chairman of the Deloitte Centre for Cyber Innovation.

"We have experienced a number of attacks against the financial sector, on the power grid and against our defense capability,” he said.

The warnings are out there, but the progress being made to defend against acts of cyber aggression is slow. Many believe it will take what they call a “Cyber Pearl Harbor” before governments and their militaries step up to the critical task of defending their computers, networks and devices that make up the critical infrastructure.