Cybersecurity

In cyberspace, adversaries are growing more sophisticated and outpacing advancements in policy, education, and defense technologies. In an era of great-power competition, it is vital that policy makers and tech experts understand the underlying factors and motivations impacting the field of cybersecurity. With a focus on strategy and foresight, the Atlantic Council shifts attention from singular incidents to better understand larger cyber campaigns.

Recent analysis

NATO Faces About Ten Serious Cyber Incidents Each Month

Report
Jan 29, 2026

The US needs a cybersecurity roadmap

By
Franklin D. Kramer, Robert J. Butler, and Melanie J. Teplinsky

A national cybersecurity strategy will require an operational road map.

Cybersecurity
Security & Defense

NATO Faces About Ten Serious Cyber Incidents Each Month

Report
Sep 30, 2025

404 Accountability not found: Spyware accountability through software liability

By
Sara Ann Brackett, Jen Roberts

This report proposes a legislative safe harbor framework that would incentivize technology companies to engage in spyware accountability.

Cybersecurity
United Kingdom

NATO Faces About Ten Serious Cyber Incidents Each Month

Issue Brief
Sep 10, 2025

Mythical Beasts: Diving into the depths of the global spyware market

By
Sarah Graham, Jen Roberts, and Nitansha Bansal

The second edition of the Mythical Beasts project assess how the global spyware market has developed and changed over the past year.

Cybersecurity

Programs

The Atlantic Council Technology Programs comprises five existing efforts—the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), the GeoTech Center, the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, the Democracy + Tech Initiative, and the Capacity Building Initiative. These operations work together to address the geopolitical implications of technology and provide policymakers and global stakeholders necessary research, insights, and convenings to address challenges around global technology and ensure its responsible advancement.

learn more

Content

NATOSource

May 23, 2013

NATO Faces About Ten Serious Cyber Incidents Each Month

By Paul Ames, Global Post

From Paul Ames, Global Post:  The Boolea attack is fiction, the center-piece of operation Locked Shields, a "live fire" cyber exercise run by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in late April, to test the rapid response capabilities of allied cyber units.

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

Event Recap

May 22, 2013

15th Anniversary of PDD-63: History of Cyber Critical Infrastructure Protection

On May 22, 2013, the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative held a discussion on the history of cyber critical infrastructure protection in recognition of the 15th anniversary of Presidential Decision Directive 63 (PDD-63).

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

NATOSource

May 22, 2013

NSA Deputy Warns Against Cyber Vigilantes

By Colin Clark, Breaking Defense

From Colin Clark, Breaking Defense:  The private sector — and the government — must “exhaust” the use of traditional responses such as public shaming, criminal charges, diplomatic demarches, and sanctions “before we contemplate the dangerous possibility we might encourage vigilantism

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

NATOSource

May 22, 2013

Report Recommends US Permit Private Counterattacks Against International Hackers

By David E. Sanger, New York Times

From David E. Sanger, New York Times:  With President Obama preparing for a first meeting with China’s new president, a commission led by two former senior officials in his administration will recommend a series of steps that could significantly raise the cost to China of the theft of American industrial secrets.

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

NATOSource

May 22, 2013

NATO’s New Relevance as a Cyber Alliance

By Siobhan MacDermott, AVG

From Siobhan MacDermott, AVG:  NATO is a creature of crisis, having come into being early in the Cold War as an intergovernmental alliance between the United States and the European democracies for collective defense against attack

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

NATOSource

May 21, 2013

Digital Warfare: North Korean Cyber-Rattling

By Economist

From Economist:  Earlier this month the Department of Defence delivered a report to Congress accusing the hermit kingdom’s expanding army of “cyber-warriors” of using foreign infrastructure, such as broadband networks, to launch cyber-attacks on American allies, most notably South Korea. Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s fresh-faced dictator, is said to have 4,000 loyal cyber-warriors at […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

NATOSource

May 20, 2013

EU Invites NATO to Boost Cyber Cooperation

By NATO Parliamentary Assembly

From NATO Parliamentary Assembly:  The European Union’s top justice official invited NATO on Saturday to work more closely with the EU to combat cyber-crime and create a safe Internet environment where citizen’s rights and personal data are protected.

Cybersecurity European Union

NATOSource

May 20, 2013

The Unique Characteristics of Cyber Weapons

By Panayotis A. Yannakogeorgos, National Interest

From Panayotis A. Yannakogeorgos, National Interest:  Cyber events breaching the threshold of armed attack require the use of cyberweapons. These differ substantially from other malicious code.

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

NATOSource

May 15, 2013

NSA Chief: US Under Constant Cyber Attack Threat

By Andrea Shalal-Esa and Deborah Charles, Reuters

From Andrea Shalal-Esa and Deborah Charles, Reuters:  The top U.S. general in charge of cyber security warned on Tuesday that the United States is increasingly vulnerable to attacks

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

NATOSource

May 15, 2013

Beijing’s Bitskrieg: China’s Revolution in Cyber Warfare

By John Arguilla, Foreign Policy

From John Arguilla, Foreign Policy:  What’s coming from Beijing is, in a word, "bitskrieg." The Pentagon report describes this as a three-phase process.

Cybersecurity Security & Defense
Load More

Experts

Fellow

Yasmine Abdillahi

Nonresident Fellow

Africa Center

Africa Cybersecurity

Fellow

Michael Allen

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Cybersecurity

Fellow

Victor Atkins

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Crisis Management Cybersecurity

Staff

Nitansha Bansal

Associate Director

Cyber Statecraft Initiative

Artificial Intelligence Cybersecurity

Fellow

Tyson Barker

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

Cybersecurity Digital Policy

Fellow

Ryan Berger

Nonresident Fellow

Global China Hub

Americas Cybersecurity
Load More