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TIGHT: cables on the seabed between Europe and America. Photo: GRAPHICS: submarinecablemap.com
An internal NATO report states that member countries do not have sufficient control over foreign and especially Chinese investment in ports, airports and telecommunications.
The full report was presented at NATO’s digital defense ministers meeting on Thursday and is classified.
However, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, there is a strong call for member states to tighten control over ports, airports, the supply of fuel, food and medical equipment, as well as the new 5G networks and others. telecommunications.
– We have made progress, but there are still vulnerabilities. For example, foreign control over the infrastructure on which our societies and our military completely depend, Stoltenberg told a news conference at NATO’s digital defense ministers meeting.
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China mentioned
The NATO chief mentioned only one country in his open discussion of the report: China.
“Countries like China are now aggressively investing in ports and airports, and our telecommunications networks remain vulnerable, both to external attacks and to being compromised from within,” says Stoltenberg.
Internal compromise can mean that the owner can hypothetically shut down, eavesdrop, abuse or sabotage the facilities and facilities that NATO and its member states depend on to continue in a crisis.
ONLINE MEETING: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg chaired the NATO defense ministers meeting on Thursday and Friday, with the ministers on display. Photo: NATO
Huawei discussions
The two largest Norwegian telecommunications companies developing 5G mobile networks, Telenor and Telia, have chosen to exclude themselves from the Chinese company Huawei as the main provider, following the entry into force of the new Norwegian security law last year:
– The new security law established a sector responsibility so that those who have critical infrastructure are responsible for protecting themselves against vulnerabilities. The law also requires large companies like Telenor to secure their systems, Norwegian Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen (H) tells VG after the two-day meeting of digital defense ministers at NATO.
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When asked how the report affects NATO country Norway, Bakke-Jensen responds:
– If you have an infrastructure that is essential for the protection of society, then you must protect it. We are on the right track with this under the new Security Law.
– Does Norway care that the report identifies Chinese property as a threat?
– I perceive it as a follow-up to the discussion that we have had in recent years around it with the 5G network. But it is not the case that we are critical of any Chinese investment. The Elkem industrial company is a successful example in Norway, where China came into ownership and invested a lot of money in research and development, Bakke-Jensen tells VG.
Unsafe telecommunications cables
Jens Stoltenberg confirmed at the press conference that submarine data and telecommunication cables between the US and Europe are also a vulnerability that worries NATO:
VG has previously discussed how Russian submarines can knock internet lines out of play by sabotaging data cables at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
– Submarine cables are part of the discussion about NATO deterrence, and when we discuss our ability to protect ourselves. We are also completely dependent on these cables for the internet to work, Stoltenberg said.
Much of the vulnerability lies in the fact that most of the cables are privately owned and where they are generally known, he added.
New NATO command personnel in the US city of Norfolk have been established to protect allied supply lines between Europe and North America in the event of conflict. According to Stoltenberg, the cables from the bottom of the Atlantic are within his area of responsibility.
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Serious attack on the Storting
NATO countries must also do more to protect against cyber attacks and data breaches, such as the Storting’s computer system hacked this summer, according to the NATO chief:
– The attack on the Storting is serious for Norway. It joins the ranks of the NATO countries exposed to such attacks by Russia, such as the German Bundestag, and tries to influence the elections in the United States and France.
But he sees no end to cyber attacks:
– This is something that will last and that we must handle with firmness and determination for a long time, said Stoltenberg.
