In the early hours of March 1, an Amazon data center in the UAE was struck by a drone, the company reported. Shortly afterward, another center belonging to the American tech giant suffered a direct hit. And a short time later, a third, this time in Bahrain, was damaged by another drone strike. Since Amazon is the preferred partner of many companies and governments in the region, the attacks caused immediate disruptions.
Coordinated space and cyber operations effectively disrupted communications and sensor networks across the area of responsibility, leaving the adversary without the ability to see, coordinate, or respond effectively. The cyberattacks severely disrupted Iranian systems, targeting state media outlets like IRNA, IRGC communications and command networks, government digital services, and key infrastructure in the energy and aviation sectors.
We have seen warfare utilize not just kinetic but cyber-attacks as well to support their endgame and their goals, so being able to anticipate what our adversaries are doing in the cyber landscape is critical to our ability to conduct warfare.
Dragone told the Financial Times, "We are studying everything ... On cyber, we are kind of reactive. Being more aggressive or being proactive instead of reactive is something that we are thinking about." He suggested that NATO could launch a " pre-emptive strike" which could be viewed as "defensive action " adding that this approach is "further away from our normal way of thinking and behavior."
