Nato fires up cyber defences

A Nato cyber defence centre of excellence has been formally established to carry out research and training in how to combat cyber warfare.

The centre will be based in Tallinn in Estonia and will be used to train Nato's civilian and military staff in cyber defence techniques.

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Seven Nato member states have signed documents for the formal establishment of the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence: Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Spain.

Nato is also creating a Cyber Defence Management Authority to protect its allies against online attacks such as that suffered by Estonia in 2007.

A denial of service attack brought down key banking and state systems in the country effectively crippling the country and prompting Nato to carry out a thorough assessment of its approach to cyber defence.

Nato supreme allied commander for transformation, General James Mattis, said there is a compelling need for the centre to help Nato "defy and successfully counter the threats in this area".