Katie Wheelbarger, U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security, said Pentagon is ready to equip NATO allies with its cyber warfare capabilities anytime that they asked. The offer is made amid growing concerns over allegations that Russia is using the cyberspace in its attacks against nations perceived as its enemies.
Wheelbarger said the cyber warfare tools it will offer NATO allies are both offensive and defensive in nature. She said Pentagon will formally announce its cyber assistance any moment that the NATO allies make their request.
Wheelbarger highlighted that the Pentagon's offer shall send a message that the Alliance is ready and equipped to counter Russia's cyber aggression, Reuters reported. It will also help the Alliance to devise a more coherent and unified cyber policy among its 29 member states.
In a meeting with defense ministers in Brussels on Oct. 3, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that similar offer has already been made by the United Kingdom and Denmark, as well as Germany, Norway, Spain, and the Netherlands. These countries have actively devising cyberwarfare policies to guide their militaries on how to legitimately deploy cyber attack weapons, Reuters noted separately.
Stoltenberg told the press that the Alliance is putting significant importance in cyber defense. They have actually set up a new cyber operations center. He explained that any cyber attack deployed against NATO's allies can trigger the implementation of the Article 5. Stoltenberg said cyber capability is now being considered as a military domain just like air, sea, and land.
Article 5 embodies the principle of collective defense. This means that an attack against one Ally is considered an attack against all Allies. The article had already been invoked for the first time after the 9/11 attack against the United States.
The NATO Secretary said it is highly important for NATO and NATO Allies to be able to do collective defense to respond to a more assertive Russia.
Reuters reported that senior officials of NATO member states have credible intelligence showing that Russia is aggressively attacking Europe by hacking the region's energy and telecommunications networks and disinformation campaigns.
The relation between NATO and Russia is at its worst level at present, similarly to the conditions during the Cold War era according to political analysts. All practical and military cooperation with Russia has been suspended since April 2014 when Russia intervenes in the Ukraine crisis and illegally occupied Crimea.
NATO and its Allies have also been wary of Russia's growing military presence near borders from the Baltic to the Black Sea. It did not help that Vladimir Putin has also been flaunting his nation's nuclear capabilities.
The international community has also been critical of Russia's intervention in Syria.
