Just days after NATO declared "cyberspace" a formal military zone, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that major cyber attacks might now be classified as a "case for the alliance" which NATO as a whole would respond to militarily, with conventional warfare.

Though Stoltenberg insisted doing so would depend heavily on the severity of the attacks, he said to establishment of cyberspace as a military zone meant NATO would react to attacks there the same as attacks in air, sea, land, or space.

In theory, this would mean that NATO member nations could invoke Article 4 of the alliance, obliging meetings to discuss mutual military defense if a member nation is "attacked," simply on the grounds of them being hacked.