NATO has just declared that an organized and massive cyber attack on any of its 28 member-states (including the United States) by another state is reason enough for the alliance to go to war.

This chilling declaration -- obviously aimed at Russia, the leading patron of state-sponsored cyber attacks against NATO -- now means NATO can react to future cyber attacks by deploying conventional weapons, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a high level NATO meeting in Brussels.

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"We have decided that a cyber attack can trigger Article 5, meaning a cyber attack can trigger collective defense," he explained.

"A severe cyber attack may be classified as a case for the alliance. Then NATO can and must react," said Stoltenberg. "How, that will depend on the severity of the attack."

A cyber attack deemed serious enough by NATO will suffice to trigger Article 5, said Stoltenberg. Article 5 is the basis for NATO's collective defense and means an attack on one NATO member-state will be considered an attack on the entire alliance.

Previously, it would have taken a blatant act of war such as an invasion of a member-state to trigger Article 5 and ignite a war. Now, however, any organized cyber attack can be used by NATO as justification for triggering an armed conflict.

"Most crises and conflicts today have a cyber dimension," said Stoltenberg.

He noted that NATO will "organize and coordinate" their defenses against digital threats.

"There's a lot of work to be done," he said.

NATO will formally designate cyber as an official operational domain of warfare along with air, sea, land and space at its upcoming summit at Warsaw this July. The alliance is expected to approve this new definition of war that officially recognizes cyberspace, or digital property and systems, as "operational territory."

Simply put, NATO now considers the digital domain a battlefield and will deploy defensive measures and respond with force if their territory is encroached on or attacked. NATO considers the internet a battlefield just like air, land, and sea.

Individual NATO member-states have earlier made similar announcements, including the United States.

"It is hard to imagine a conflict without a cyber dimension," said Stoltenberg.

The 28 NATO member-states are Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

TagsNATO, war, Article 5, Russia, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg