NATO has announced strategic, non-commercial partnerships with Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks and ESET to strengthen resilience against cyber threats.
The partnerships were unveiled at the International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon) in Tallinn, Estonia, NATO announced on Wednesday.
It said the agreements are intended to support dialogue with industry, information sharing, the exchange of best practice and coordinated activities on issues of shared interest.
“Deterrence and defence in cyberspace and the digital sphere are not only a matter of reliable hardware and software, but they are also about shared norms and principles,” Jean Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Cyber and Digital Transformation, told the conference.
He said the approach was particularly relevant “at a time when critical infrastructure essential for our societies to function is under attack, and malicious actors take advantage of technological developments to rapidly evolve their tactics”.
Cyber industry cooperation highlighted at Tallinn conference
NATO linked the move to an agreement reached at the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, where Allies decided to expand cooperation with the private cyber sector.
It added that industry expertise was recognised as relevant to preventing, defending against and responding to increasingly sophisticated cyber activity.
CyCon is an annual event organised by NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.
The 2026 conference, running from 26 to 29 May under the theme “Securing Tomorrow”, is bringing together 800 decision-makers, cyber experts, academics and industry representatives from 48 countries.
