Tag Archive for: nato

Former NATO Commander says Russia will ‘carpet bomb’ Ukraine

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Retired Admiral James Stavridis has written books on leadership, decision-making and even sounded the alarm on China and cyber warfare in his book, “2034: A Novel of the Next World War.” In an opinion piece for Bloomberg, he sounding a new alarm for the West: Russia is going to carpet bomb Ukraine unless we do something about it. 

Carpet bombing involves progressively stepping up the size and scope of aerial bombing attacks to completely destroy a given area. This is the kind of strategy used in World War II, before the development of smart weapons. Its advantages include destroying industrial capacity and enemy infrastructure. But because it doesn’t distinguish between military and civilian targets, carpet bombing is considered a violation of the 1924 Geneva Protocols – a war crime. 

That fact is unlikely to keep Russian President Vladimir Putin from using it.

Stavridis says the ground war in Ukraine will enter a slowdown phase, as both sides deal with the wet, rainy autumn and prepare for the ground to freeze before major combat operations can be ramped back up. Ukraine, he says, will have the advantage on the ground, with its high morale and highly-trained troops, supplied by the West. Facing a conscript army of drunks and criminals, Ukraine is the superior force. 

The air war, he says, is another story. In Russia’s most recent conflict in Syria, Russian air forces employed the saturation bombing strategy, using “dumb” munitions to pound Syrian rebel forces and Syrian cities. Dropping thousands of high explosive bombs, the Russians sought to destroy the forces aligned against dictator Bashar al-Asad, along with any support they have had. Worst of all, the strategy worked. 

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander says Russia will ‘carpet bomb’ Ukraine
U.S. Army General David H. Petraeus, right, with the U.S. Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis, commander of European Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe in Brussels in 2011.

To illustrate his point, Stavridis says the appointment of Russia’s chief Air Force officer to command of the overall war in Ukraine is a harbinger of things to come. Colonel General Sergey Surovikin oversaw the atrocities committed by Russian air forces in Syria and is…

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Portugal investigates dark web sale of classified NATO documents – EURACTIV.com

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Portugal’s public prosecutor’s office is investigating a cyberattack against the Armed Forces General Staff in which classified NATO documents were extracted and put up for sale on the ‘dark web’, the Attorney General’s Office said on Tuesday.

“The establishment of an enquiry is confirmed. It is led by the public prosecutor’s office of the Central Department of Investigation and Prosecution (DCIAP),” the Attorney General’s Office told EURACTIV’s media partner Lusa.

According to the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias, the government was informed of the situation last week by the US intelligence services, via the embassy in Lisbon, through a communication that was reportedly made directly to Prime Minister António Costa in August.

The same newspaper mentioned that this case was considered “extremely serious” and that US cyber spies had detected “for sale on the ‘dark web’ hundreds of documents sent by NATO to Portugal, classified as secret and confidential.”

The Defence Ministry said it was already investigating “all signs of a potential breach of computer security” and claimed the “sensitivity” of the proceedings meant further comment was not appropriate.

In a statement, the ministry said that the investigations are conducted by the National Security Office, “with which the ministry of defence and the armed forces work in close coordination.”

Among the functions of the National Security Office is to “ensure the security of classified information within the national framework and international organisations to which Portugal is a party” and exercise “the function of accreditation authority for natural or legal persons to access and handle classified information.

(Fernando Carneiro/Lusa.pt)

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‘Portugal’s army lost NATO documents in a hack’

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The Portuguese Armed Forces General Staff Agency (EMGFA) reportedly fell victim to a hack that resulted in the theft of sensitive NATO papers, which are currently being sold on the dark web.

EMGFA is the governmental agency responsible for controlling, planning and operating Portugal’s armed forces. The agency only discovered it had been hacked after hackers uploaded samples of the stolen data on the dark web, claiming they would sell the files to prospective buyers.

US cyber intelligence operatives discovered the sale of stolen records and notified the US embassy in Lisbon, which informed Portuguese authorities of the data breach.

The documents are extremely sensitive

A group of specialists from the National Security Office (GNS) and Portugal’s national cybersecurity center was quickly dispatched to EMGFA to thoroughly examine the organization’s network.

The revelation was first reported by Diario de Noticias, a local news outlet that claims to have validated the accuracy of the information through anonymous individuals involved in the investigations.

According to these sources, the stolen documents are of extreme importance. Their distribution might jeopardize the country’s reputation in the NATO.

Air-gapped but vulnerable

EMGFA’s computers are air-gapped, but the data breach was reportedly caused by non-secure links. The investigation’s initial finding is that the senior military authority violated its operational security standards at some point in time.

At the time of writing, the Portuguese government has made no official statement on the subject. However, the political opposition is increasing pressure for a briefing in response to the reports.

Many parliamentary representatives expressed amazement after learning that sensitive military documents were being auctioned on the internet and the country’s intelligence services had failed to identify such a significant breach.

Tip: Data privacy: from necessary security step to competitive advantage

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“Israel is a very valued partner of NATO”

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What are the technological challenges facing NATO in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rising power of China? To understand these complex issues I sat down for a candid conversation with David van Weel, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, during his recent visit to Israel.

Mr. van Weel’s responsibilities span several arenas which fall under the definition of Emerging Security Threats, such as counter-terrorism, cyber, climate change and security and energy security.

“We have a new Innovation Fund , a Venture Capital fund with 22 nations directly contributing to the 1 billion Euro that we are going to invest in tech. We also have a defense innovation accelerator initiative that is starting now. Innovation is coming out of the private sector and into the defense sector.

“Electric cars, for example, are more software systems than hardware systems. We will see the same in the defense industry,” explains van Wheel.

“What we’re trying to do is to bridge that gap between the commercial and military sector in Europe and North America,” adds the NATO executive. “To do that, we are going to make use of existing accelerators or incubators that are already operating in these nations, that are now mainly focused on civilian startups and technologies. We are going to use them, their networks and education programs to create businesses out of good ideas or raw technologies, to actually work on NATO’s problems.

“For example, how can we communicate underwater over a distance of 100 kilometers? It’s something that can’t be done now with existing technology, but who knows, with the technologies that are around the corner, what we might get. We will select the best ideas and co-develop them with military end-users and scientists.”

The Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) project is comprised of two cycles, each lasting six months, for a total of one year. In the first cycle, the companies will receive 50,000 Euros each. Those who make it to the second round will get another 150,000. They will also enjoy NATO’s mentorship.

During his stay in Israel, Assistant Secretary General van Wheel paid a…

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