Conflicts & War

Stoltenberg warns of Russia’s ‘invisible’ cyber war

Rome, Nov 10 (EFE).- Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday warned of the increasing threat of cyberwarfare led by Russia and urged allied states to boost their security.

“The threat from cyberspace is real, and it is growing,” Stoltenberg told the Cyber Defence Pledge conference in Rome.

“That is why our Cyber Defence Pledge is so important. So I call on Allies to recommit to cyber defense with more investment, more expertise and enhanced cooperation. This is a vital part of our collective defense.”

He said Russian cyberattacks struck Ukrainian government, military and emergency institutions in the hours prior to the invasion in February.

“This attack caused collateral damage beyond Ukraine affecting wind turbines and interrupting internet access for tens of thousands of people across Europe,” Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg, who is also set to meet with Italy’s new hard-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni, said that for years Nato worked on strengthening Ukrainian defenses, including through intelligence sharing and cyber security.

Nato’s chief underlined that cyberspace is another domain of their operations just as land, sea, air, or space and therefore he supports continued collaboration with private companies, which “have played a key role in defending Ukrainian cyberspace.”

In Ukraine, Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites provide free access to the Internet, and Amazon and Microsoft transferred the Ukrainian government ministries’ data to their clouds at a time when their servers were under Russian attack.EFE

gsm/aef/jt

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