«Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Cybersecurity Policy»
Students Name: Khivrenko Daria Yuriivna
Qualification Level: magister
Speciality: International Relations
Institute: Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Mode of Study: full
Academic Year: 2023-2024 н.р.
Language of Defence: польська
Abstract: The paper emphasized that nowadays many non-democratic states consider their dominance in cyberspace as an integral part of their foreign policy. It is established that such states as the Russian Federation and China, as well as criminal hacker groups, pose a significant threat to the cyber security of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization The object of the study is the cybersecurity policy of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The subject of the study is challenges and opportunities for NATO cybersecurity policy. The purpose of the study is to examine the key principles of NATO’s cyber defence policy, as well as the challenges, threats and opportunities for the Alliance’s cyber security policy. It was found that NATO has a solid legal and institutional framework in the field of cybersecurity. It is emphasized that the Alliance uses the term «cyber defence» to refer to actions aimed at protecting its own information and communication infrastructure from threats from cyberspace. The key provisions that NATO adheres to, adopted during the summits, were considered. Thus, the Alliance stated that today cyberspace is an area of confrontation, along with land, air and water, and proclaimed that a cyber attack on a NATO member state could trigger the use of Article 5 [2]. In particular, the current threats in cyberspace faced by the North Atlantic Alliance were considered in detail. It was established that such threats range from the use of cyber attacks on critical NATO facilities and politically motivated attacks to cyber espionage and disinformation campaigns by the Russian Federation and China [4]. The author emphasized that today, the Alliance’s cyber defence policy needs to be improved, as the application of Article 5 in cyberspace and the political attribution of cyber attacks are causing a lot of debate and controversy within the Alliance [1]. The positions of the Alliance countries in the Global Cybersecurity Index compiled by the International Telecommunication Union were analyzed. There is a tendency to improve the Alliance’s cybersecurity performance [3]. A comparison of several cyber incidents faced by NATO countries was made. The author also argues that the Alliance states are successfully using the previous negative experience of cyberattacks to strengthen their defensive and offensive capabilities in cyberspace. The author also focuses on NATO-Ukraine cooperation in enhancing Ukraine’s ability to counter current Russian cyber threats. It is established that the Alliance is assisting Ukraine through the Trust Fund on Cyber Defence, developing educational activities and deepening cooperation between Ukrainian specialists and NATO cyber defence institutions [5]. The author also identifies three scenarios for the development of the Alliance’s cybersecurity policy. The author raises the issue of the necessity to improve NATO’s current cybersecurity policy and provides practical recommendations, such as: developing NATO’s defensive and offensive capabilities, moving to a more proactive policy in cyberspace, using the best practices of NATO members in preventing cyberattacks following the example of the United States, using NATO’s intelligence capabilities, improving the mechanism for applying Article 5 in the case of a cyberattack and public attribution of cyberattacks, as well as deepening cooperation with the private sector in the field of cyber security. Keywords: cyber security, cyber attack, cyber defence, cyber threat, NATO, Ukraine, Russian Federation, China. List of references: Cyber attacks and Article 5 – a note on a blurry but consistent position of NATO. The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. Available from: https://ccdcoe.org/incyder-articles/cyber-attacks-and-article-5-a-note-on-a-blurry-but-consistent-position-of-nato/ Cyber defence. The NATO web-site. Avaliable from: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_78170.htm Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2020. International Telecommunication Union. Avaliable from: https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-d/opb/str/D-STR-GCI.01-2021-PDF-E.pdf Machiels M. Active Cyber Defence and NATO-NATOs innovative offensive strategy towards Russia and China. Atlantic Forum. Avaliable from: https://www.atlantic-forum.com/atlantica/active-cyber-defence-and-nato-natos-innovative-offensive-strategy-towards-russia-and-china Ukraine Cyber Defence. NATO official website. Avaliable from: https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2016_07/20160712_1606-trust-fund-ukr-cyberdef.pdf