“There is no peace in cyberspace.” General Molenda on the scenario of triggering NATO Article 5

– There is no peace in cyberspace – said General Karol Molenda, Commander of the Cyberspace Defense Forces Component, when asked whether the actions carried out by Russia against Poland and its allies can already be described as cyberwar.

I envy my colleagues from other branches of the armed forces who can clearly define actions in times of war and peace. In cyberspace, it is much more difficult to pinpoint the moment when a conflict turns into a war

– explained General Molenda. – So far we have had rivalry, now we can talk about a conflict, an arms race, and even a cold war. However, individual players know what they can afford in cyberspace so as not to cross the threshold of war, he added.

Molenda drew attention to the fact that in NATO, cyberspace is treated on an equal footing with land, air, water and space. – So if we decided that we were in a state of cyber war with Russia, it would trigger the activation of NATO Article 5 – he emphasized.

Molenda noted that he defines cyberwar as a situation in which actions taken by the adversary result in the death of people or damage to critical infrastructure. – For example, if life-support equipment was damaged as a result of a ransomware attack on a hospital, it would open up a completely new scenario for us – he noted.

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Poland “the most attacked country in the world”. Russian hackers lead the cyber war

that in recent months, Poland has become one of the favorite targets of pro-Russian hackers. Our country is expected to experience up to 1,000 serious cyberattacks a week, and the favorite method used by cybercriminals are DDoS attacks.

According to the report of the government plenipotentiary for cybersecurity, “over 80,000 cybersecurity incidents were handled” in 2023 alone. As the authors of the document point out, this means an increase of over 100%. compared to 2022.

However, there is also good news. Our country came first in the National Cyber ​​Security Index ranking, which measures the level of cybersecurity. Poland scored 91 points out of 100 and was ahead of countries such as Australia, Estonia, Ukraine, Latvia, Cyprus and Great Britain.

The fact that Poland copes exceptionally well with cyber threats is also proven by the report “The Cyber ​​Defense Index” published by the prestigious magazine “MIT Technology Review”. In last year’s edition of the ranking, we placed sixth in the world.

Article 5. What is it? Which means?

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty has been activated only once so far – after the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. After running this article, the US and other members of the North Atlantic Alliance entered Iraq and Afghanistan. Its full text reads as follows:

The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against all of them and therefore agree that if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in the exercise of the right to individual or collective self-defense recognized under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, shall assist the Party or Parties attacked by taking such measures as it considers necessary, including the use of armed force, immediately, alone or in consultation with the other Parties, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area .

In short, this means that an attack on one of the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is treated as an attack on the entire NATO.