Terminology as a Barrier to NATO's Interoperability in Cyberspace Operations

During Warsaw NATO summit cyberspace has officially become a new domain of operations in which NATO must defend itself as effectively as it does in the air, on land, and at sea. According to this declaration, NATO members must achieve abilities to conduct cyber operations. This declaration shows distinctly that partners in NATO need to have defensive and offensive capabilities to interoperate with allies during cyber activities. However, the proper functioning of armed forces in a multi and international environment, their cross-sectoral cooperation in time of peace, war, and a crisis situation depends on terminology and common language. Unfortunately, different NATO countries have their own set of terms and definitions. Sometimes cyber terminology is strongly distant. The lack of a unified conceptual apparatus for cyber activities poses a serious barrier to interoperate in cyberspace. The article presents a theoretical basis of cyber terminology based on research carried out by the authors. The paper is the added value since it presents and clarifies complex issues of cybersecurity terminology. Moreover, it also presents definitions of key terms and assures a strong theoretical basis and provides an incentive for further research on the referents of cyber terms.