BRUSSELS, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller on Thursday stressed the importance of cyber defense when she addressed industry experts at a conference in Mons, Belgium.
According to a press release from NATO, the annual NATO cyber symposium, hosted by the NATO Communications and Information Agency, provides an opportunity for NATO, experts and the industry to discuss the latest advances in cyber technologies, as well as cyber-related threats and challenges.
"Cyber-attacks are serious. They have the potential to undermine NATO's missions around the world and to hamper our ability to deliver collective defense. That is why cyber defense is a top priority for NATO and for NATO Allies," Gottemoeller said.
"We have to be just as effective in the cyber domain as we are in the physical world," she added.
NATO leaders agreed to recognize cyberspace as a new operational domain, in addition to domains of land, sea, and air.
Gottemoeller said: "Having cyber as a domain of operations will increase our ability to work together, to develop new and appropriate capabilities and to share information among all Allies."
