Advertisement

NATO's Cyber War Games Amid Surge In Attacks

NATO's computer servers are detecting 200 million suspicious cyber events every single day, the alliance has revealed.

On average the military organisation is the victim of five major cyber attacks each week and that has increased "significantly" since Russian aggression in Ukraine started.

The figures were published as NATO carried out its biggest ever cyber security exercise involving hundreds of computer analysts.

The three-day event, taking in 28 nations, was held on a former Soviet base in the city of Tartu, close to the Russian border.

Using a virtual cyber range, they fought various scenarios including an insider attack, and an assault on a surveillance plane. It tested teamwork, inter-country co-operation and decision-making under pressure.

A rapid deployment team was even scrambled from NATO's cyber headquarters in Belgium to a military base in Greece, simulating a potential real-life scenario.

Luc Dandurand, the deputy director of the exercise, explained the aims of the event.

"The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen the alliance cyber defence capabilities both at the NATO level and at the national level," he said.

"There's a total of 80 different organisations that are participating in this exercise. They're learning to work together and exchange information. We're testing new systems and protocols."

Sky News was the first camera crew to be given permission to film one of these exercises.

They are highly sensitive and what we were allowed to film was restricted. The UK only participated in an observer role which was regarded unfavourably by a number of people we spoke to.

NATO estimates global cyber crime makes a profit of $1trn a year - equivalent to the narcotics trade.

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg flew into Estonia to support the exercise. When asked whether ground troops could be deployed in the future to defend a NATO member under cyber attack, he didn't rule it out.

"We will always do what it takes to defend all allies," he said.

"Cyber attacks is not something that 'might' happen. Most attacks we are preparing for are for the future. Cyber attacks is something that is happening every day."

Estonia, the host nation, knows this from first-hand experience. The country was attacked by Russian hackers in 2007. Banking systems, newspaper production and national websites were all affected.

Since then the country has invested heavily in cyber capability and is now one of the leading nations in NATO.

Estonia's president Toomas Hendrik told Sky News his country had notice a surge in attacks since Russian aggression increased in Ukraine.

He also revealed there had been a recent major attack on the country, but declined to reveal specifics.