NATO member states have reached an agreement on the NATO Integrated Cyber Defense Center (NICC), a new hub to help protect against advanced cyber threats.
This was decided at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. Mons was specifically chosen because it is also home to NATO’s military headquarters. Prior to the summit, there were warnings that the alliance’s cyber capabilities would be insufficient. On a daily basis, the alliance encounters cyber threats.
To DefenseScoop, a NATO representative explains the intentions of the NICC: “The idea is that there are multiple aspects to it. One is information-sharing — just ensuring that all allies know what the others are doing, making sure that they are on the same level and that they exchange knowledge. Another part of it will be developing [capabilities] together. And the third one is kind of focused on defense of cyber attacks and so on.”
The hub intends to physically bring staff from all NATO member states together in Mons. They should gain nonstop insight into existing and emerging threats that pose a potential risk to military operations.
Complement to operations
The new hub will be separate from the Centres of Excellence. These institutes train managers and specialists from NATO members. The alliance endorses these Centres of Excellence, so to speak, but they are explicitly not NATO institutes. The representative emphasizes that the NICC is a NATO initiative. “Which means that it’s very differently staffed and differently structured. There will be civilian and military leadership working together in it. So, it’s a very different kind of setup than what we have now.”
The NICC should be fully operational by 2028, with ambitions to be live earlier.