While the United States has made it clear that it possesses offensive cyber capabilities to retaliate against cyber attacks, NATO “is not there” yet, said Hans Binnendijk, SAIS senior fellow, at AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference on Tuesday. The alliance is still “thinking about defense,” he said. Though the alliance is focusing heavily on cyber threats, cyber attacks would probably not invoke NATO’s collective defense clause, he said. However, “much of it depends on the nature of the cyber attack,” said Binnendijk.
Earlier this week, the People’s Republic of China confirmed it is halting its nuclear arms control talks with the U.S., in retaliation for the U.S. continuing to sell arms to Taiwan. The move reinforces a “pattern of behavior” from Beijing, experts say.