Cyber as a domain: concepts and capabilities

During the North Atlantic Council in Warsaw of 8-9 July 2016, NATO declared that its essential mission is unchanged. It was also stated that NATO will ensure that it has the full range of capabilities necessary to deter and defend against potential adversaries and the full spectrum of threats that could confront the Alliance from any direction.

Cyberattacks present a clear challenge to the security of the Alliance and could be as harmful to modern societies as a conventional attack. For that reason, the Member States agreed in Warsaw that cyber defense is part of NATO’s core task of collective defense and NATO’s defensive mandate, and that cyberspace is recognized as a separate domain of operations in which NATO must defend itself as effectively as it does in the air, on land, and at sea. Furthermore, it will ensure more effective organization of NATO’s cyber defense and better management of resources, skills, and capabilities.

HCSS conducted research on both the concept of Cyberspace as a Domain for NATO and on the question whether the existing NATO cyberspace capabilities cover the whole spectrum of those required as a result of recognizing  cyberspace as a domain of operations.

The research results are available at HCSS. The report is not available to the public.