We have crossed over to a new nuclear era in which cyber capabilities transform the nuclear risks. Cyber threats make more likely the risk of human error and accidents, miscalculations, or blunders. These risks are compounded by the potential for cyberattacks from state or non-state actors that can lead to the theft of nuclear materials or sabotage to a nuclear facility, false warning of a missile attack, or the intrusion into nuclear command and control systems.
The aftermath of a cyberattack could be catastrophic, involving a Fukushima-like disaster or use of a nuclear weapon, potentially impacting every nation in the Euro-Atlantic space.
Reducing and managing cyber nuclear risks is an existential common interest for all nations in the Euro-Atlantic region. Governments have a shared responsibility to work together to mitigate these risks.
Nations in the Euro-Atlantic region should engage in discussions for reaching at least informal understandings on cyber dangers related to nuclear facilities, strategic warning systems, and nuclear command and control. These dangers should be urgently addressed to prevent the potentially catastrophic consequences of a cyber attack on a nuclear facility or war by mistake.
As a first priority, nations could work to develop clear “rules of the road” in the nuclear cyber world and explore mechanisms to develop and implement measures that reduce these risks.
The nations in the Euro-Atlantic region are confronting a range of significant issues today. But none should distract from urgently pursuing practical steps now that can reduce real and potentially catastrophic dangers.
Signatories to the Joint Statement by the Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group
Support for Dialogue Among Governments to Address Cyber Threats to Nuclear Facilities, Strategic Warning, and Nuclear Command and Control
Co-Conveners
Des Browne
Vice Chair, Nuclear Threat Initiative; Chair of the Board of Trustees and Directors of the European Leadership Network; and former Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom
Ambassador (Botschafter) Professor Wolfgang Ischinger
Chairman (Vorsitzender), Munich Security Conference Foundation, Germany
Igor Ivanov
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of the Russian International Affairs Council, Russia
Sam Nunn
Co-Chair, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and former U.S. Senator, United States
Participants
Ambassador Brooke Anderson
Former Chief of Staff, National Security Council, United States
Steve Andreasen
National Security Consultant, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and former Director for Defense Policy and Arms Control, National Security Council, United States
Joel Bell
Chairman, Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, Canada
Robert Berls
Senior Advisor for Russia and Eurasia, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and former Special Assistant for Russia/NIS Programs to the Secretary of Energy, United States
Philip Mark Breedlove
General (Ret), United States Air Force; former Commander, U.S. European Command, and 17th Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied, United States
William J. Burns
President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, United States
Ambassador Richard Burt
Chairman Global Zero USA, United States
Evgeny Buzhinskiy
Chairman of PIR Center Executive Board; Vice-President of RIAC; and Lt-General (Ret), Russia
General (Ret) Vincenzo Camporini
Vice President Istituto Affari Internazionali, Italy
Hikmet Çetin
Former Foreign Minister, Turkey
James F. Collins
(Amb. Retired) Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, United States
Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola
Former Chief of Defence; former Chairman of NATO's Military Committee; former Minister of Defence, Italy
Ambassador Rolf Ekéus
Diplomat and Chairman Emeritus of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Sweden
Sir Christopher Harper
KBE, United Kingdom
James L. Jones
General (Ret), USMC; President, Jones Group International, United States
Roderich Kiesewetter
Member of Bundestag, Germany
Bert Koenders
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands
Łukasz Kulesa
Research Director and Head of the Warsaw Office, European Leadership Network, Poland
Imants Lieģis
Former Minister of Defence, Latvia
O. Faruk Loğoğlu
Former Ambassador to the United States and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey
Hon. Andrea Manciulli
Head of Italy's Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Italy
Ernest J. Moniz
Co-Chair and CEO, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and former U.S. Secretary of Energy, United States
Ferdinando Nelli Feroci
President, Istituto Affari Internazionali, Italy
Professor Roland Paris
University Research Chair in International Security and Governance, University of Ottawa, Canada
Paul Quilès
Former Defence Minister; and Chairman of IDN (Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament), France
Bruno Racine
Chairman, Fondation pour la recherche stratégique, France
Ambassador Māris Riekstiņš
Former Foreign Minister, Latvia
Joan Rohlfing
President and Chief Operating Officer, Nuclear Threat Initiative, United States
Sir John Scarlett
Chief Secret Intelligence Service 2004-2009, United Kingdom
General Igor Smeshko
Former Head of the Security Service (SBU) (2003-2005), Ukraine
Stefano Stefanini
Former Italian Permanent Representative to NATO; ELN Executive Board; Atlantic Council Nonresident Senior Fellow; and Project Associates Brussels Director, Italy
Adam Thomson
Director, European Leadership Network, United Kingdom
Nathalie Tocci
Director Istituto Affari Internazionali; and Special Advisor HRVP Federica Mogherini, Italy
General (Ret) Dr. Erich Vad
Lecturer at the Universities of Munich and Salzburg, Germany
William Wallace
Rt Hon Lord Wallace of Saltaire, United Kingdom
Isabelle Williams
Senior Advisory Global Nuclear Policy Program, Nuclear Threat Initiative, United Kingdom
Marcin Zaborowski
Former Executive Director, Polish Institute of International Affairs (2010-2015), Poland
