Nato faces cyber attack threat, says study of defences

Source: Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian.

The world’s most powerful military alliance is increasingly vulnerable to attack by unconventional weapons and cyberwarfare in particular, Nato governments were warned today.

“The next significant attack on the alliance may well come down a fibre optic cable”, according to a draft new Nato “strategic concept”. There are unacceptable “serious gaps” in Nato’s cyber defences, it warns.

The warnings are contained in a report by a group of high-level experts chaired by Madeleine Albright, the former US secretary of state. They will provide the basis for an agreement due to be signed by Nato leaders at a summit in Lisbon in November.