BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th October, 2018) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been supporting Ukraine in the creation of a cyberincident response center aimed at countering hacking attacks on Ukrainian cybernetworks, the alliance's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said.
"NATO has already been helping Ukraine with strengthening its cyber defences, its cyber capabilities ... We also help them with defending their own networks and their own infrastructure. For instance, NATO is now helping Ukraine with setting up a cyber incident response centre, which will be one way to help them to deal with incidents or attempts to interfere or to meddle or to hack into their cyber networks," Stoltenberg told reporters at a press conference following the meeting of the NATO-Georgia Commission (NGC) as part of the NATO Defence Ministers' session, which is held on Wednesday and Thursday.
NATO had been supporting Ukraine through its trust fund for cyber defense, the alliance's chief pointed out.
Ukraine has been seeking to boost its cybersecurity. On September 6, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) approved the main characteristics of the 2019 defense budget, which, among other things, ensures stepping up the country's cybersecurity.
Moreover, in February, NSDC chief Oleksandr Turchynov said Ukrainian authorities were considering the possibility of establishing units of cybersoldiers within its armed forces.
Kiev has been striving to join NATO for years. In 2014, Ukraine relinquished its status of non-affiliation with any blocs. In 2016, additional legislation was adopted to set Ukraine's interest in joining NATO as one of the key national priorities.
However, despite these aspirations, NATO officials have said that the country needs to implement a wide range of reforms before pursuing membership.
