Dr Josef Schröfl, Deputy Director of the Community of Interest Strategy & Defence, contributed as one of the keynote speakers to the ‘Hybrid threats and the use of the cyber domain’ virtual conference, organized by the Portuguese Military University on 21 October. The aim of the conference was to raise awareness of hybrid attacks and cyber power, and to shed light on the trends of hybrid threats and their use in the cyber domain, as well as the avenues they open up for developing European defence capabilities and resilience against cyber threats.
Hybrid and cyber threats are paramount areas of interest, playing an important part in the agenda for the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union (PPUE) in 2021. During the presidency, Portugal will host both the ‘Cyber Phalanx 2021’ combined course and exercise, as well as a ‘Comprehensive cyber strategic decision-making’ exercise providing hybrid scenario training opportunities and an information and experience sharing platform.
‘Cyberattacks against EU countries have increased by over 200% during the COVID-19 pandemic, while cyber has emerged as a major enabler of hybrid threats posed by government agencies and non-state actors. An understanding of the shape of the new threats posed by cyber power is needed more than ever,’ concluded Dr Schröfl during his keynote speech.
