During the course of a Wednesday meeting, NATO agreed to greatly increase their use of cyber weapons during all future military operations, as well as substantially upgrading their cyber-war capabilities.

Officials made clear in comments after the meeting that the upgrades were necessary specifically to “combat Russia,” suggesting that the repeated allegations of Russian hacking by US official have NATO ready to further militarize cyber-space.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says cyber warfare has created a new security environment, and cyber conflict will be “an integral part” of any future military conflicts conducted by the alliance, presenting the ISIS war as an example.

It’s not clear to what extent cyber warfare has been successful in the ISIS war, however, as the efforts have chiefly been focused on trying to silence pro-ISIS narratives online, and attempts to advance alternate narratives in support of the warring states have been of limited success, but massive financial cost.