Over 1,000 Industry representatives and NATO officials are set to meet in Mons, Belgium, on 7 and 8 September 2016, to discuss the Alliance's future cyber requirements.
The NATO Information Assurance and Cyber Defence Symposium (NIAS), NATO's premier cyber conference, will be an opportunity for the Alliance to hear from Industry representatives about emerging trends in cyber security.
The two-day event will help NATO plan the vision for its future cyber defences, with invitations for bids expected to be released in 2017, and the first round of investments completed in 2018.
Next generation starts now
"The Alliance took important steps at the NATO Summit in Warsaw to bolster our collective and national cyber defences," said NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, Ambassador Sorin Ducaru. "NATO recognised cyberspace as a domain, which will enable us to better assure the protection of our missions and operations. Allies also pledged to strengthen and enhance the cyber defences of national networks and infrastructures as a matter of priority.
Both initiatives form part of the continuous adaptation of NATO's cyber defences. Engaging industry is critical to this adaptation, allowing NATO to benefit from innovation in cyber defence. This will be vital for the next generation of our cyber defences."
At the Summit in Warsaw (8-9 July 2016), Allies have committed to continue implementing NATO's Enhanced Policy on Cyber Defence and to strengthen NATO's cyber defence capabilities, benefiting from the latest cutting edge technologies. NATO has state-of-the art cyber defence hardware and software, and is constantly adapting to a rapidly evolving technology environment. This requires new tools and solutions and better engagement with industry, including through the NATO Industry Cyber Partnership.
In July, NATO announced business opportunities in cyber, air and missile defence as well as advanced software, worth up to 3 billion EUR. This includes planning to invest around 70 million EUR in a cyber technology refresh. The Alliance has identified specific areas where it will seek Industry contribution, including secure mobility, multi-level authentication and the secure use of public clouds. NCI Agency General Manager, MGEN (rtd) Koen Gijsbers commented: "With 28, soon to be 29 NATO member countries, it is essential that we are all able to work together, accessing information quickly and securely from any location.
The use of cloud computing enables this and has a profound impact on operations – fewer servers, fewer generators, greater speed. The same applies to giving soldiers more information on smaller, more mobile devices which they can carry with them anywhere.
Of course, politically-sensitive intelligence cannot be shared on a public cloud, but routine business can be greatly facilitated by cloud technology.
We also need to be able to trust that the person logging in is who they say they are, so we rely on multi-level authentication."
In line with the next generation of cyber defence, NATO needs to continue to enable and develop rapid collaboration across the coalition of Allies.
NIAS 2016 will offer in-depth workshops on four specific themes: Building resilience from inside; Moving from Information Assurance to Mission Assurance; Next generation cyber security challenges and solutions; and Securely enabling the mobile user.
Click here for the conference Agenda and to register. Or watch this short video to get a glimpse of what's in store at the event. Join us to shape the future of NATO cyber defence!