Sydney, 5 September 2024
Cyber is an integral part of modern warfare and cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, government institutions, international organisations and electoral processes are becoming more frequent and sophisticated. On Wednesday (4 September), senior cyber policy experts from NATO Allies and Asia-Pacific partners gathered at the Cyber Champions Summit in Sydney, Australia, to discuss current cybersecurity challenges and explore new avenues for cooperation.
Addressing the Summit, James Appathurai, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber, raised the alarm on the deterioration of security in cyberspace: “The threat environment is getting worse and threat actors have a higher risk appetite,” he said, expressing concerns that nations may “get used to ever higher levels of threats and attacks” as they increase their resilience. “We should not get used to it” he said, calling for cooperation to also focus on increasing our ability to deter cyber threats and actors.
The Cyber Champions Summit is an annual NATO-supported event that provides a platform for information and experience-sharing. It fosters public-private sector cooperation in domains such as the protection of critical infrastructure and helps to accelerate the development of innovative solutions, taking into account deep-tech advances in areas such as generative AI and quantum computing.
The Summit was first held in Lithuania in 2023. In 2025, it will be held in Seoul, South Korea.