Cyber offense in NATO: challenges and opportunities.

As a response to the Russian invasion of Crimea, NATO returned to the core military concepts of deterrence and collective defence. This NATO adaption has recently come to include attempts to integrate offensive cyber effects into NATO force structure and response doctrine. The article argues—counter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Affairs Vol. 97; no. 3; pp. 703 - 721
Main Author: Jacobsen, Jeppe T
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press / USA May2021
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        au: Jacobsen, Jeppe T
      su:
        North Atlantic Treaty Organization
        Cyberbullying
        Cyber intelligence (Computer security)
        Cyberspace
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        subj:
          Cyberbullying
          North Atlantic Treaty Organization
          Cyber intelligence (Computer security)
          Cyberspace
      ab: As a response to the Russian invasion of Crimea, NATO returned to the core military concepts of deterrence and collective defence. This NATO adaption has recently come to include attempts to integrate offensive cyber effects into NATO force structure and response doctrine. The article argues—counter to what is publicly declared—that such an integration does little to strengthen NATO's deterrence posture and is unlikely to deter non-military, hybrid cyber activity below the threshold of collective defence. The article identifies several practical challenges to the current integration effort, which include the temporal dimension of developing exploits, battle damage assessment and deconfliction. With these challenges in mind, the article suggests that deploying minor and less resourceful cyber effects that cause persistent 'cyber annoyances' holds an unappreciated potential as they can drain opponent resources, disturb vital IT-systems and complicate decision-making. The article ends by arguing that NATO should not adapt its collective defence clause to cyberspace. A more active NATO in cyberspace risks undermining the cyber-intelligence norm that so far has prevented escalation and thereby increasing the likelihood that Russia misinterprets intelligence and active cyber defence activities as military preparation, armament or an attack in the making.
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    language: English
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