By Samie Al-Dulaimi
BRUSSELS, March 9 (KUNA) -- NATO's cyber defence capabilities are limited to its systems and operations around the world, and are not used for attack under any circumstances, said a leading official.
Some of these interests are located on NATO member state territory, while there are others that are overseas, like Afghanistan and the coast of Somalia, explained Maj Vincent Banse, a senior staff member of NATO's Cyber Operations Team.
Asked by a visiting tour of journalists if these cyber capabilities could be used in an attack, he said it was against NATO policy to do so.
The excursion to NATO establishments, organised by the US Department of State, includes reporters from six European member nations and another two non-members, including Kuwait and Japan.
The comments were made at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) headquarters in Mons, Belgium - 80km south of the capital - where the cyber defence team operates.
Banse, from the Dutch military, said that he is employed in J6, which "translates the requests of the 28-member states into practical terms" and relays this information to NCIRC.
NCIRC is the body responsible for the execution of these requests, he added.
For his part, NCIRC Staff Officer Alan Sewell said that the 200-employee-strong department inspects 75 NATO websites on a daily basis, along with the sent and received e-mails of all of NATO's employees.
On the nature and frequency of attacks, he said that cyber attacks by terrorists were the least frequent, while those by organised criminals occurred "on a daily basis, and represent the largest by number." Web-based organised crime includes demanding a fee for the cracking of a complicated code, "which has been on the rise," he added.
Other parties responsible for these attacks include children aged 8 all the way up to teens, activists and nations.
Asked by KUNA whether any action is taken out on these individuals, after their identities are revealed, he reiterated NATO's defensive stance on the issue, and said that the office would, in this case, contact local authorities of that country to handle the issue.
Within its role, the department also informs NATO's military personnel on the ground immediately of the dangers of a security breach, so as to limit dangers to their life as much as possible. (end) sd KUNA 091607 Mar 14NNNN