NATO Launches Cyber-Defence Research Project

Keeping critical national infrastructure such as power grids, water treatment plants, and transportation systems safe from cyberattacks is the focus of a new NATO research initiative.

Late last month a team from NATO's Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme visited the capital of Azerbaijan to launch the new two-year project.

In Baku across the next 24 months, as per a recent NATO  press statement those taking part in the programme will work to develop a platform enabling organizations to train staff, test new technologies, and assess processes under pressure from simulated cyber-attacks.

The new project is being organised by the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics - ICI Bucharest (Romania) and the Special Communication and Information Security State Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

They will be working to identify common vulnerabilities of critical operation technology systems to devise ways of better protecting them from malign external electronic interference.

The new project is the latest in a series of technical collaborations between the SPS Programme and Azerbaijan. which in the past has included research on neutralising Soviet-era toxic rocket fuel, protecting energy infrastructure from earthquakes, protecting cyber networks, and developing detectors to locate landmines and explosives. 

• You can read more details on the NATO website