Homebase >
Cyberspace Operations
Cyberspace is far more than merely the Internet. All devices reachable via cyberspace could be potential targets and potential threats. This includes networks and devices connected by wired connections, wireless connections and those that appear to be not connected at all. Adding to this ever-growing domain is the use of such technology in the expanding number of domestic goods, also known as the internet of things (IoT). […] Although today’s dependency on cyberspace brings associated risks, it provides military opportunities as well. An adversary may similarly rely on parts of cyberspace, such as computers, computerised networks, mobile devices and the electromagnetic environment and, therefore, may exhibit similar vulnerabilities.
(Allied Joint Doctrine for Cyberspace Operations, AJP-3.20 Ed. A, Jan 2020)
Related Publications
Drone Drills
How to Prepare for a Drone Incident
By Lt Col
Andre
Haider
Well-established emergency procedures are vital for swift and efficient crisis management across military, civil, and public sectors. These protocols encompass first aid, fire, and bomb threat calls, aiming to save lives, prevent harm, and minimize [...]
Freedom of Manoeuvre in Cyberspace
By Lt Col
Eric
Jodoin
By Maj
Fotios
Kanellos
NATO defines manoeuvre as ‘Employment of forces on the battlefield through movement in combination with fire, or fire potential, to achieve a position of advantage in respect to the enemy to accomplish the mission’. But [...]
Insights from the Ukrainian Cyber Battlefield
Is the Private Sector a Game Changer?
By Lt Col
Antonios
Chochtoulas
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February shocked the entire world and created the most significant security crisis in Europe since the Second World War. Along with traditional kinetic warfare, Russia has conducted large-scale cyber [...]
Quantum Technology for Defence
What to Expect for the Air and Space Domains
By Lt Col
Denis
Dúbravčík
By Dr
Michal
Krelina
Quantum Technology (QT) has its foundation in quantum mechanics, a discipline more than one hundred years old. The first applications of quantum mechanics, known as Quantum Revolution 1.0, include nuclear fission, lasers, semiconductors, etc., where [...]
The Next ‘Small Step for Man’ in the Metaverse
Operating Between Virtual and Physical Worlds
By Maj
Fotios
Kanellos
On 28 October 2021, when Meta five years before the actual COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. ‘Over the next two to three years, virtual meetings will shift from the 2D camera image grid format to a 3D space [...]
Sharing Cyber Capabilities within the Alliance
Interoperability Through Structured Pre-Authorization Cyber
By Lt Col
Todd
Arnold
By Col
Stephen
Hamilton
By Dr
Jan
Kallberg
Sharing cyber weapon/cyber capabilities requires trust between the member states, becoming a high-end policy decision due to the concerns of proliferation and the investment in designing a cyber-weapon that has a limited ’shelf-life’. The digital [...]
Adversarial Machine Learning
A Threat to NATO Missions
By Dr
Elie
Alhajjar
The rapid progress in computer vision made possible by deep learning techniques has favoured the large diffusion of applications based on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The ability to analyse different kinds of images and data from [...]
Thresholds in Cyber and in Space
Lessons Learned from State Positions on the Application of International Law to Cyber for the Evolving Space Domain
By Mr
Sebastian
Cymutta
On January 17th of 2022, NATO published its ‘Overarching Space Policy’, with almost identical wording: ‘(…) Allies agreed that attacks to, from, or within space present a clear challenge to the security of the Alliance, [...]
The Cyber and Information Domain and the Space Domain: Links and Interdependencies
By Maj Gen
Juergen
Setzer
For a long time in NATO’s history, the three traditional operational domains – Land, Sea and Air – were the basis for deriving the necessary capabilities and providing the framework for both the strategic and [...]
Defending Space in and through Cyberspace
A Fragile Stability in Space
By Maj
Fotios
Kanellos
In a recently published book titled ‘2034’, Admiral Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman, two former military officers with deep operational and diplomatic backgrounds, tried to describe how and, apparently, when a future war with China might [...]
Bots Taking Over
The New-Breed Decision Makers
By Maj
Mehmet
Bayram, PhD
Decision-making problems, one of the main research areas of management science, have been studied in a highly-interdisciplinary manner by the contributions of the scientists and engineers from various research fields. Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) [...]
Transitioning NATO to an All-Domain Mindset
By Capt
Daniel
Cochran
By Col
Matthew
Willis
Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO) is a concept with the ambition of maximizing the effectiveness of all declared NATO forces through broadly focusing on two critical interoperability areas: obstacles between services and across the nations. The [...]
Cyberspace and Joint Air and Space Power
Any Speed; Always Relevant
By Lt Col
Paul J.
MacKenzie
When examining the Cyberspace Domain where the projection of Air and Space power is concerned, it is just as relevant for mission success to maximize the defence of systems and information throughout the slow and [...]
Avoiding Cyber Forever Wars
Toward a Joint All Domain Whole of NATO Cyber Conflict Deterrence Strategy
By Ms
Gentry
Lane
Cyberspace is poised to be the next ‘forever war’ battleground unless US and NATO allies change course from the current balkanized, defence-prioritized posture and enact a unilateral deterrence strategy. Cyberspace as an operational domain is [...]
Cybersecurity Challenges with Emerging Technologies
How to Leverage New Technologies in Modern Battlefields
By Maj
Fotios
Kanellos
It was the end of April 2020 when the first 5G base station was installed by Huawei, together with China Mobile, on the ‘roof of the world’, Mount Everest, at an altitude of 6,500 m, [...]
A Comprehensive Approach to Countering Unmanned Aircraft Systems
This technical manual covers all aspects of having to counter the full spectrum of unmanned aircraft and their respective system components. It should serve to bring together both civilian and military experts by initiating thought [...]
Cyber-Electromagnetic Domain
The Necessity of Integrating the Electromagnetic Spectrum’s Disciplines Under a Single Domain of Operations
By Lt Col
Panagiotis
Stathopoulos
By Col
Matthew
Willis
Even though NATO currently recognizes the Electromagnetic Environment (EME) as an operating environment, the latest Libya operations and the Syrian conflict battlespace highlighted that coalition forces might be required to operate within an extremely complex [...]
Implications of 5G to Air Power – A Cybersecurity Perspective
By Maj
Fotios
Kanellos
The next generation of wireless and mobile network, called 5G. 5G is gradually replacing the 4G/LTE. The three main technical characteristics of 5G networks are: Data rates of between 1–20 Gbit/s per mobile base station, [...]
Cyber Threats to Space Systems
Current Risks and the Role of NATO
By Ms
Gil
Baram
By Mr
Omree
Wechsler
Recent years have seen a growing arms-race in space, with nations striving to develop and test offensive space capabilities, and space force-building processes taking place within their militaries: In March 2019, India conducted its first test [...]
A Comprehensive Approach to Countering Unmanned Aircraft Systems
And Why Current Initiatives Fall Short
By Lt Col
Andre
Haider
Over the last decades, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have been fielded in every military service, ranging from handheld micro-UAS to medium-sized tactical systems to fully grown and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). At the same time, [...]
Cyberspace NOTAM!
NATO’s Vision and Strategy on the Cyberspace Domain
By Lt Col
Paul J.
MacKenzie
On 6 June 2018 the North Atlantic Council (NAC) approved the Military Committee’s (MC) Vision and Strategy (V&S) on Cyberspace as a Domain of Operations, a significant milestone in the ongoing development of this Domain [...]
Command and Control in Digital Transformation
The Future of the Command Post
By Mr
Harold H.M.
Vermanen
The Crimean crisis showed Russia’s ‘new generation warfare’ capability or, as NATO described it, ‘hybrid warfare’ including propaganda, deception, sabotage and other non-military tactics. These tactics were used before. The difference was in their level [...]
Space Resilience – Why and How?
The Importance of Space Resilience and the Current Approach
By Lt Col
Andrea
Console
Modern warfare is highly reliant on Space. From GPS-guided munitions to Communications and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Space is almost ubiquitous when high-tech military applications are involved. The relevance of space-based services for military [...]
NATO Joint Air Power and Offensive Cyber Operations
By Lt Col
Paul J.
MacKenzie
The successful projection of Joint Air Power relies heavily on Cyberspace for complex mission systems, C4ISR and Space Support to Operations. Assets operating in the air environment must have freedom of movement, literally and in [...]
Air Warfare Communication in a Networked Environment
By Capt
William A.
Perkins
By Col
Carlos
Presa
Network technology is expanding at an exponential rate. As technology improves, effectively unlimited connectivity is no longer strictly a future concept; however, combined decision-making and data sharing processes (or maybe ‘protocols’) are not evolving at [...]
Defending NATO’s Aviation Capabilities from Cyber Attack
By Mr
Alexander
DeFazio
By Mr
Michal
Kalivoda
‘Cyber-attacks present a clear challenge to the security of the Alliance and could be as harmful to modern societies as a conventional attack. We agreed in Wales that cyber defence is part of NATO’s core [...]
Be the Windscreen, Not the Bug
Cyber – An Air Commander’s Responsibility
By Lt Col
Dave
Sexstone
What is Cyber? More importantly, why should you as a military professional, commander and airman even care to understand? Frankly, what Cyber is defined as precisely and whether it be anointed as its own domain [...]
Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems in Contested Environments
A Vulnerability Analysis
By Lt Col
Andre
Haider
Over the past two decades, Remotely Piloted Aircraft System(s) (RPAS) have been fielded in increasing numbers across many nations and military services. RPAS provide distinctive capabilities for the Joint Force Commander (JFC) with reduced risk [...]
