Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Spain
agreed to help fund and staff the centre in the Estonian
capital Tallinn. The United States will initially send an
observer to the project, aimed at boosting defenses against
such attacks.
"We have seen in Estonia that a cyber attack can swiftly
become an issue of national security. Cyber attacks can cripple
societies," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said after a
signing ceremony in Brussels.
The centre will have some 30 staff when fully operational
in August and provide research, consultation, training and
development of cyber defenses, which will remain the prime
responsibility of national governments.
Estonia's decision last year to remove the bronze statue of
a Red Army soldier from the centre of Tallinn sparked rioting
by mainly Russian-speaking youth, a row with Moscow and four
weeks of cyber attacks which its president blamed on Russia.
Moscow has denied any involvement in the flood of data
which overloaded servers and caused computers to crash, with
Estonian officials saying its banks were briefly targeted.
Last month's NATO summit included an agreement to study any
request for help by any ally facing a cyber attack.
(Reporting by Mark John; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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