The Fifth Domain: NATO’s Cyber Frontline with Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer | 09

Kicking off series two, Ciaran and James sit down with none other than the CIO of NATO, Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer, to discuss what collective defense means in the cyber domain. Manfred offers a rare inside look at managing security and information risk across NATO’s vast digital landscape and shares insights on emerging threats, evolving technologies, and how the Alliance is adapting to keep its members protected in an increasingly contested cyberspace.

Highlights:

NATO and its Foundational Framework

• • NATO - Official text: The North Atlantic Treaty, 04-Apr. 1949
  • What is NATO? | Topic: Consensus decision-making at NATO
  • NATO - Topic: The consultation process and Article 4

Collective Defence and the Cyber Domain

• • NATO - Topic: Défense collective - Article 5
  • Cyber attacks and Article 5 – a note on a blurry but consistent position of NATO
  • Would a cyberattack on a NATO country trigger Article 5? | Cybersecurity Dive
  • Using NATO’s Article 5 Against Hybrid Attacks - CEPA

NATO’s Cyber Policy Evolution

• • Recognising that a cyber-attack could trigger Article 5 – Wales Summit Declaration issued by NATO Heads of State and Government (2014)
  • Cyberspace declared as an operational domain (alongside land, air, and sea) Warsaw Summit Communiqué issued by NATO Heads of State and Government (2016)
  • Stoltenberg Provides Details of NATO's Cyber Policy - Atlantic Council
  • Nato will defend itself
  • The Comprehensive Cyber Defence Policy – the ways in which NATO could combat increasing cyber-threats without triggering Article 5. Brussels Summit Communiqué issued by NATO Heads of State and Government (2021), 14-Jun.
  • NATO - Cyber defence

NATO’s Digital Transformation

• • News: NATO’s strategy for digital transformation , 22-Oct.-2024 | NATO’S Digital Transformation Implementation Strategy
  • NATO - Official text: Data Strategy for the Alliance , 05-May.
  • Allies agree new NATO Integrated Cyber Defence Centre

Evolving Threat Landscape for NATO

• • NATO - Topic: Deterrence and defence
  • Fortifying the Baltic Sea - NATO’s defence and deterrence strategy for hybrid threats
  • NATO Wakes Up to the Chinese Threat - CEPA
  • Issue brief: A NATO strategy for countering Russia - Atlantic Council
  • Algorithmic power, NATO and artificial intelligence
  • Summary of the NATO Artificial Intelligence Strategy
  • NATO Exploring Quantum Technology for Future Challenges
  • The Age of AI: Navigating the Convergence of Emerging Technologies - NATO's ACT

Balancing Legacy Risks with Future Tech

• • NATO Science and Technology report identifies trends shaping the future of science, defence and security for the next 20 years, 09-Apr.-2025 | Science & Technology Trends 2025-2045
  • NATO - Topic: Emerging and disruptive technologies | NATO releases revised AI strategy, 10-Jul.-2024
  • Emboldened and Evolving: A Snapshot of Cyber Threats Facing NATO | Google Cloud Blog
  • Harnessing Artificial Intelligence: Allied Command Transformation at the Forefront of NATO Innovation
  • Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for NATO’s cyber resilience: Preliminary perspectives 

Additional Resources

• Cryptocurrency theft of £1.1bn could be biggest ever, says Bybit - BBC News
• Russia’s Cyber Campaigns and the Ukraine War: From the ‘Gray Zone’ to the ‘Red Zone’
• An Unprecedented Look at Stuxnet, the World's First Digital Weapon | WIRED

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Contact:

• Have questions or comments? Email us at cyberleaderspodcast@sans.org