NATO announces new cyber defense center

NATO members on Wednesday agreed to set up a new cybersecurity unit aimed at warning military commanders of emerging hacking threats against the alliance. 

The Integrated Cyber Defense Centre’s mandate will include sharing threat intelligence on cyber threats to private infrastructure that is “necessary to support military activities,” the alliance said in a statement. The center will be based at NATO’s military headquarters in Belgium. 

NATO computer networks are regular targets for spies as well as criminal hackers. As the summit began this week, pro-Russia hackers claimed to have targeted NATO websites. 

“In recent days, our cyber experts have detected a substantial increase in attempted hack and leak activities, claimed by various groups on the dark web,” a NATO official told CNN. “Similar events occurred during last year’s Summit so this does not come as a surprise. NATO’s classified networks have remained operational at all times.”