Challenges of Cyber Risk Management in Multinational Operations and Missions

In modern times’ complex and rapidly evolving cyber security landscape, cyber threats are a significant challenge for multinational military operations. This paper investigates the issue of managing cyber risks within multinational military operations such as those of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and explores adapting cyber risk management in the context of military operations, emphasizing the role of cyber practitioner role to include the assessment and management of cyber risk in order to increase mission assurance. To that end, a framework for effective cyber risk management is developed for multinational operations which takes into consideration mission architectures, key cyber terrain, threats, attack vectors, vulnerabilities, interdependencies, resilience measures, and other socio-technical challenges. A discussion on the framework’s appealing characteristics is presented highlighting its systematic approach and ability to enable future improvements related to practical application and adaptation to evolving tools and techniques.