NATO will lay out new plan for cyberwar

WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- NATO is boosting its computer network defense capabilities among concerns that the alliance is insufficiently prepared for the realities of cyberwar.

The alliance's cyber-defense chief warned a conference in London that a determined cyber-assault on a country's Internet infrastructure by a capable adversary would be "practically impossible to stop," according to a report on Silicon.com.

Suleyman Anil, head of NATO's Computer Incident Response Capability Coordination Center, addressed the e-crime conference Friday.

NATO will set out an action plan for dealing with infrastructure attacks on its members at a summit in Bucharest next month, said the Web site.

Anil emphasized continuity of operations and recovery planning, areas in which member states tended to be "weak."

Anil said cyber-warfare "stands together with … missile defense and the global fight against terrorism" as alliance priorities.

He emphasized the asymmetric aspects of cyber-warfare, saying it "can become a very effective global problem because it is low-risk, low-cost, highly effective and easily globally deployable."

"It is almost an ideal weapon that nobody can ignore."