Alliance’s Cyber Ops Centre Upgrade Has Gone Live
The operations centre run by NATO’s Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has completed an upgrade and the new technology is now online.
The upgrade, a collaborative project between NATO’s Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) and industry partners Cisco, RSA and EuroOne, was completed on time and on budget towards the end of 2021. The enhanced live service supports continuous threat monitoring across NATO’s networks.
Two main systems have received the bulk of the attention during the upgrade programme. The Network Intrusion Protection/Detection System can recognise patterns in network traffic and raise alerts to staff if unusual activity is observed. The Full Packet Capture capability makes a continuous and complete record of all network activity: while this is of limited use in the detection phase, it is the primary source of information when responding to incidents.
“These technology upgrades are instrumental to maintaining our ability to defend and protect NATO’s networks,” said Fred Jordan, head of the NCI Agency’s Cyber Security Programme Delivery branch. “Through the implementation of the Capability Package 120 (CP120) Programme, we ensure the effectiveness of the cyber security services delivered by NCSC in an ever-changing cyber threat landscape.”
A competition is underway which will result in a contract award in the second quarter of 2022. This will see a rollout of replacement equipment at 22 other NATO sites.