Tag Archive for: nato

2023 Outlook: Allied Views on Security, Defence, NATO

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In 2023, NATO continued to monitor Allied citizens’ perceptions on defence and security. Findings show significant agreement that NATO membership makes foreign attack less likely (61 per cent, consistent with 2022), and support for increased defence spending has risen by five percentage points (40 per cent in 2023; 35 per cent in 2022). A majority of Allied respondents agree with their country continuing to provide support to Ukraine (63 per cent).

NATO Annual Tracking Research 2023 - Cover

About the study

Coverage: 31 NATO Allies plus Sweden: general population over 18 years of age. When this survey was conducted, Sweden was not a NATO member. Data from Sweden are not included in the calculation of the NATO total.

Sample size: In all countries polled online, a sample of at least 1,000 respondents per country was achieved. In countries surveyed by telephone, at least 500 individuals per country were interviewed. In total, 30,925 interviews were conducted.

Methodology: Online interviews, with quotas applied on gender, age and region. In Albania and Montenegro, interviews were conducted via telephone and random sampling.

All data have been weighted according to the latest population statistics.

Total data are calculated based on population distribution in the 31 Allied countries. Data from Sweden are not included in the calculation of the NATO total. When this survey was conducted, Sweden was a NATO Invitee. It became a NATO Ally on X March 2024.

Fieldwork period: 1 November – 6 December 2023.

Margin of error: The survey uses non-probability sampling. The indicative margin of error is ± 3%.

Trend data: 2022 data are based on interviews conducted among 30,993 interviews in the 30 NATO member countries between 7 and 29 November 2022. 2021 data are based on interviews conducted by Kantar among 28,909 adults in the 30 NATO member countries between 12 November and 2 December.

/Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.

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NATO: Time to Adopt a Pre-emptive Approach to Cyber Security in New Age Security Architecture

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Introduction

Cyber threats are complex and asymmetrical, particularly because cyberspace is “borderless” and exists digitally. NATO ensures its cyber security through collective action among its permanent members who respond based on the depth of the attack or vulnerability. With the new NATO Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a cyber security command based in Mons, Belgium, NATO reinforces its capabilities in the cyber ecosystem. NATO seeks to secure its infrastructural digital networks through a centralized allied process. The main stated strategic goal of NATO’s cyber security infrastructure is to collectively counter “the full spectrum of cyber threats at all times.” The key pillars of this deterrence and defense posture include safeguarding vital networks, protecting infrastructures, and supporting cyber security missions. To mitigate the asymmetrical threat of cyberattacks, NATO must remain technologically advanced, agile, and interoperable in military operations to enhance its collective cyber resilience. NATO’s current policy simply responds to cyber attacks and minimizes vulnerabilities. NATO should transition towards preventing such attacks at all levels (from fundamental to complex wired infrastructure).

The Evolution of NATO’s Posture

As a security provider in the Euro-Atlantic region, NATO must ensure protection at all levels to prevent harm and damage from cyberattacks. NATO has long considered cyber defense to be a central defense mechanism. The need for a cyber security space feasibility requirement was first noted in the 2002 NATO Summit meeting in Prague, which discussed the necessity of technological agility and planning on electronic warfare and information systems. The Riga Summit in 2006 reiterated this necessity. Despite this recognition, no cyber security apparatus fully evolved, and interconnected cyber defense capacity remained low. Nevertheless, the summits accurately forecasted that future war operations would be far more complicated due to growing cyber security threats. Battles have occurred over an increasing number of dimensions–whether air, land, sea, or digital–particularly as electronic warfare has become a…

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Finland sees fourfold spike in ransomware attacks since joining NATO, senior cyber official says

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Ransomware attacks targeting Finnish organizations have increased four-fold since the Nordic country began the process of joining NATO last year, according to a senior official.

In an interview with Recorded Future News on Thursday, Sauli Pahlman, the deputy director general for Finland’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), cautioned that “correlation doesn’t equal causality,” but said he believed the surge in cases was linked to geopolitics.

Finland, which had historically declared itself to be a non-aligned country – in part due to troubled relations with Russia, with whom it shares a 830-mile border – applied to join NATO following the invasion of Ukraine.

In June, the country expelled nine diplomats from the Russian embassy in Helsinki and accused them of undertaking intelligence missions in contravention of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

The expulsion of alleged Russian intelligence officers throughout Europe prompted the head of Finnish Security Intelligence Service (SUPO) to warn last year that Russia would “turn to the cyber environment” for espionage due to challenges impacting its human intelligence work.

At the time, SUPO’s director Antti Pelttari said that the agency considered it “unlikely that any cyberattack will paralyze critical infrastructure [in Finland] in the near future.”

NCSC’s Pahlman echoed this position, telling Recorded Future News he didn’t “consider it very likely that we [will] really see a cyber incident in Finland that really closes down something that’s critical for society — food, electricity, water — on a wide scale.”

But the NCSC still issued a public alert last September, elevating the cyber threat level to encourage organizations and the public to be aware of the potential for disruptive incidents. The threat level “continues to be elevated as we speak, the situation hasn’t changed,” said Pahlman.

The number of cyber incidents which Pahlman said were clearly perpetrated by state-sponsored actors “has not, at least up to today, increased in a way that I could say that there has really been a step-up. [But] what we can certainly say is that the ransomware cases — which tend to have much…

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As NATO celebrates 74th anniversary, Royal Navy a crucial ally of the organization — MercoPress

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As NATO celebrates 74th anniversary, Royal Navy a crucial ally of the organization

Tuesday, April 4th 2023 – 21:38 UTC


Relations between the Royal Navy and NATO have ‘never been closer’ as the alliance marks 74 years since its creation this month amid continued global instability. British warships spent nearly 10,000 hours – 60 weeks – on NATO operations in 2022 and that pace has continued unabated in the first four months of 2023.

The Royal Navy is at the heart of galvanized NATO efforts as Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine continues, securing Europe’s crucial waterways and chokepoints for the prosperity of allies and partners.

“While the Royal Navy has always supported NATO maritime operations, since the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia over a year ago, we have worked even more closely with our NATO allies at sea,” said Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff at the Maritime Operations Centre in Northwood, Captain Steve Banfield.

“Collaboration between NATO and the RN has never been closer; in particular in the execution of coordinated Maritime Security operations and exercises in the Norwegian Sea, North Sea, Baltic and the Mediterranean.”

From the freezing Arctic and Baltic, to the endless grey of the North Atlantic and azure waters of the Mediterranean, Royal Navy warships, submarines and aircraft have operated side by side with allies and partners so far in 2023, supporting peace and prosperity in Europe.

Patrol ship HMS Mersey recently operated in the Baltic to ensure the security and stability of the region as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force, a multinational defense framework complementary to NATO which is committed to Euro-Atlantic security with the Baltic region as one of its focus areas.

Amphibious flagship HMS Albion, HMS Somerset and RFA Mounts Bay have just returned from the Arctic where they were at the heart of an allied task group working on Norwegian security and NATO’s ability to protect its northern flank. 

Elsewhere in the Arctic Circle, Royal Marines and Commando…

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