News Archive - Page 10 of 16 - Hybrid CoE - The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats

Director Tiilikainen signing the letter of notification.

November 26, 2019

Luxembourg joins Hybrid CoE

Director Teija Tiilikainen signed a notification today regarding Luxembourg’s participation in the Memorandum of Understanding of Hybrid CoE, officially making Luxembourg the 25^th member state of the Centre.

“It’s great to see Luxembourg becoming a part of our international community for countering hybrid threats. EU-NATO cooperation on countering hybrid threats is one of the core functions of the Centre. The membership of a country which is part of both institutions strengthens that particular pillar of our activities,” said Director Tiilikainen.

”We are proud to join Hybrid CoE’s community and combine our efforts to combat the increasingly complex hybrid threats. I’m convinced that these kinds of initiatives and partnerships are necessary to strengthen the resilience of our societies,” affirmed Mr Luc Feller, High Commissioner of National Protection.

Besides Luxembourg, the participants of the Centre of Excellence include Austria, Canada, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Centre cooperates closely with the EU and NATO.

November 22, 2019

New publications from COI VR

Hybrid CoE’s Community of Interest on Vulnerabilities and Resilience (COI VR) presented the results of their 2019 workstrands in Brussels on 22 November. The event gathered together some 60 participants representing participating states’ permanent delegations, the EU and NATO, in addition to research institutions and state actors. The following publications were handed out during the event:

A Working Paper entitled HANDBOOK ON MARITIME HYBRID THREATS – 10 scenarios and legal scans. The handbook presents a taxonomy of maritime hybrid threats, complementing each category with a legal assessment.
A Working Paper on Hybrid Threats and Vulnerabilities of Modern Critical Infrastructure – Weapons of Mass Disturbance? by Jukka Savolainen.
EU-NATO cooperation in civil protection/Health-related scenario A report based on a workshop on EU-NATO cooperation in civil protection, which was organized in cooperation with the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in February 2019. The workshop took stock of EU and NATO requirements and methods for civil protection by testing them in a tabletop exercise dealing with a medical-based scenario.
Hybrid scenarios in the Baltic Sea A report based on a workshop organized jointly with the maritime and seaport safety and security project platform ResQU2* and its lead partner the University of Turku, which was held in the Turku Archipelago, Finland in May 2019.
Hybrid threats and harbour protection A report based on a workshop on Hybrid Threats and Harbour Protection, which Hybrid CoE’s COI VR organized in cooperation with the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the ResQU2* platform in October 2019.

The event concluded the second year of operation for COI VR. The team will pursue its work in accordance with the Centre’s objectives during the upcoming year by continuing ongoing projects and embarking upon new ones.

For further information, please contact Director of COI VR Jukka Savolainen: jukka.savolainen@hybridcoe.fi.

*The ResQU2 platform is funded by the EU’s Interreg programme and led by the University of Turku.

November 8, 2019

Cyber Power in Hybrid Warfare Symposium emphasized cooperation and common situational awareness

Hybrid CoE’s Community of Interest in Strategy & Defence (COI S&D) organized its first “Cyber Power in Hybrid Warfare Symposium” in Helsinki on 6-8 November 2019. The Symposium gathered together representatives from 23 EU and NATO member states, security and defence experts from relevant ministries and governmental agencies, as well as partners from the private sector and EU and NATO institutions.

The Symposium examined cyber power and the cyber domain in the context of hybrid warfare/conflict. Particular attention was paid to possible gaps in the interface between hybrid warfare/conflict and the cyber domain. A summary report on the event will be published later this year.

The main takeaways from the Symposium were:

The EU and NATO have established a good basis for countering cyber and hybrid threats through developing policies, establishing institutions and developing capabilities. However, NATO and the EU are only as strong as their member states.
Comprehensive, whole-of-society cooperation is needed to meet the challenge posed by hybrid threats within the cyber domain. This entails cooperation between public-private, civil-military, authorities and civil society.
Situational awareness is a challenge. Even partners do not necessarily share the same situational awareness picture and understanding of the threat.
Cyber has become a part of collective security and should be addressed by international rules and regulations accordingly.
Protection in the cyber domain is as important as on land, sea and air.
New technologies have the capacity to shape public opinion to the extent that it has a political influence. This approach is used both by non-state actors and states.
Cyber as a man-made domain is still new and hence we need more experience in relation to it, and a better understanding of how to secure it more effectively.

The Symposium was part of the “EU Combined Cyber and Hybrid Week” held in Helsinki under the auspices of the Finnish EU Presidency. The week created synergies by combining three independent events – the Symposium itself, the EDA’s Project Team Cyber Meeting and the EDA’s Cyber Ranges Demo Event.

For further information, please contact Dr. Josef Schröfl, Deputy Director, COI S&D, Hybrid CoE, josef.schrofl@hybridcoe.fi.

November 5, 2019

Information expert pool meets in Helsinki

Hybrid CoE’s Research and Analysis function arranged a two-day expert pool meeting on information in Hanasaari, 4-5 November. We were joined by ten academic experts from our recently established academic expert pool (AEP), to discuss trends in information, and information in the era of hybrid threats. We were also joined by 13 practitioners from 4 participating countries and NATO. The second day of the meeting was dedicated to public panel with approximately 40 participants from Finnish ministries and participating states’ embassies in Helsinki.

The trends session was built around the written contributions in which the experts mapped the trends related to information in their own fields. The discussions were enthusiastic and wide-ranging. The experts took a broad approach to information, and their debates touched upon information’s role in society as part of social interaction, public diplomacy, strategic communications, security and intelligence services, economy, and climate change.

The product/outcome of this meeting will be a trend report. Some of the major trends that were discussed included the increasing role of social media platforms in information consumption, the way in which non-state actors are used, how economic changes affect information, and the new information technology.

Director Teija Tiilikainen addressing the conference audience. Photo: Viivi Myllylä / Finnish Prime Minister's Office

October 23, 2019

Hybrid Threats – Hybrid Response Conference focused on ways to combat hybrid threats

The ‘Hybrid Threats – Hybrid Response in Modern Security Environment’ conference was hosted in Helsinki on 23 October 2019 by Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE). What makes a threat hybrid? How could we strengthen democracy in order to respond to threats against our political processes? What kind of risk will the new technologies pose to the operation of the critical infrastructure?

The conference gathered more than 150 participants from 38 countries. The event was targeted at senior policy practitioners working with hybrid issues in their national administrations in EU member states and in NATO countries as well as in Eastern Partnership and Southeast European countries.

The conference was opened by Finland’s Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo. She highlighted the need for a comprehensive approach to security and to countering hybrid threats. “Social cohesion is the best antidote against hybrid threats. We need to act in a structured and coordinated way,” she said.

The keynote speaker was Teija Tiilikainen, who took up her duties as Director of the Hybrid CoE in October 2019.

“The current international system makes a favourable environment for hybrid actions. International rules are challenged, and trust in international institutions has weakened. The conflict of values is spreading to domestic spheres, creating fertile ground for foreign influencing,” Director Tiilikainen observed.

“Our task is to help us all to meet this environment and its challenges for our societies and help our participating states to enhance their resilience and build capacity”, she noted.

The three panel discussions of the day addressed the diverse perceptions on the concept of hybrid threats, the future of democracy and the impact of future technologies on the critical infrastructure in hybrid scenarios.

Read the full news article on the EU2019fi website

October 16, 2019

Hybrid threats and harbour protection workshop fills gaps in resilience

Hybrid CoE and its COI Vulnerabilities and Resilience (COI VR) organised a two-day workshop on Hybrid Threats and Harbour Protection in cooperation with the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the ResQU2 platform[1].

The workshop examined hybrid threats in a harbour protection context by assessing vulnerabilities and solutions for effective protection measures and improved resilience. Particular attention was paid to existing capabilities for countering hybrid threats, and to potential development needs.
The emphasis was on the roles of the large number of operators involved in a single harbour, and on assessing the potential capability gaps and development needs among key stakeholders.

Four specific hybrid threat scenarios were examined during the second day of the workshop. Participants worked in small groups exploring potential proactive means and countermeasures for detecting and responding to hybrid attacks targeted against harbours, vessels and sea lines of communication.

It was concluded that digitalisation of the port processes including the whole logistics chain is the current trend. This exposes new potential vulnerabilities in terms of hybrid operations. All the port community has to recognise this trend and seek the necessary solutions to maintain and improve resilience.

The workshop brought together key public and private partners: harbour authorities, shipping industry and related business entities, representatives of the EU and NATO, as well as transport, security and defence experts from relevant ministries and governmental agencies.
The workshop provided a follow-up to previous activities undertaken by the COl VR:

the Workshop on Harbour Protection in the Hybrid Threat Environment organised jointly with the EDA in its Brussels premises on 29–30 May 2018,
the International Symposium on Maritime Security on 4–5 September 2018, organised jointly with the Helmut Schmidt Defence University in Hamburg, and
the Workshop on Hybrid Scenarios in the Baltic Sea on 28–29 May 2019, organised in cooperation with Re5QU2 project in the Turku Archipelago, Finland.

As a result of the four workshops, Hybrid CoE will launch a Handbook on Harbour Protection later this year. For further information, please contact Director of COI VR Jukka Savolainen: jukka.savolainen(at)hybridcoe.fi

[1] the ResQU2 platform is funded by EU’s Interreg programme and led by University of Turku

October 7, 2019

Teija Tiilikainen starts as Director of Hybrid CoE

Teija Tiilikainen started today as Director of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE) for a five-year term. Dr Tiilikainen was previously the Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). Before her appointment to that position in 2010, she was the Director of the Network of European Studies at the University of Helsinki (2003–2009). Dr Tiilikainen also served as Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland from 2007 to 2008.

“Hybrid CoE is a great new challenge as my term ends at FIIA. The Centre has achieved a strong position in the field in a short space of time by bringing together actors from the EU, NATO and from their member states and allies. It is my pleasure and an honour to lead the Centre during its consolidation phase in the coming years. Hybrid threats have become a permanent part of the security environment in both Finland and other democratic societies, which is why it is important that the challenges they pose to the community are addressed in a cooperative manner,” Dr Tiilikainen said.

Hybrid CoE is a network-based hub for practitioners and experts, building the capabilities of member states to counter hybrid threats via the sharing of best practices, testing new ideas and approaches, and providing training and exercises. The Centre currently has 24 member states. Membership is open to all EU member states and NATO allies.

Inquiries: Päivi Tampere, Head of Communications, the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, tel. +358 406 490 788, paivi.tampere@hybridcoe.fi

September 27, 2019

“Recognize, Adjust and Respond” – Hybrid CoE contributes to the PfP Consortium Conference

Dr. Johann Schmid, COI Strategy & Defence, contributed to the Conference on the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Consortium Emerging Security Challenges Working Group, which was conducted in the framework of the NATO-Ukraine Platform on Countering Hybrid Warfare in Kyiv (UKR). He introduced Hybrid CoE to the audience and discussed different dimensions of the concept of hybrid warfare during the first panel.

Key thesis advanced: Hybrid warfare is a threefold strategic challenge.

First, it involves the danger of losing a war before even recognising that a hybrid attack is taking place.
Second, the defender is confronted with a form of conflict that has parameters and mechanisms that are difficult to see through.
Third, HW provides offensive options, in particular by making use of initiative, surprise and creativity.

The overarching goal of the conference was to examine hybrid threats/warfare, their recent evolution, and how they might evolve over time. The discussion was considered timely, as it is a likely technique that will be increasingly employed in the near future by a number of actors. The Ukrainian example is of utmost importance in this context. The “value” of hybrid warfare is traceable to its possible use in advance of – and during – a conflict, the ability to camouflage intent, and the ability to use enablers such as cyberspace and other evolving technologies. Comparing the experience of Ukraine and Georgia with lessons learned in other countries and regions raises awareness and helps to anticipate potential developments in the field of hybrid threats/warfare.

August 19, 2019

Improved understanding of hybrid warfare – a precondition for common and comprehensive action

Dr Johann Schmid, Director COI Strategy & Defence, Hybrid CoE has contributed to the latest issue of the Journal on Baltic Security with an article developing a theory of hybrid warfare.

Drawing on the war and conflict-related events in and around Ukraine, the article examines the actions of the main actors involved with regard to hybrid elements, and duly derives points of reference to identify and characterise the essence of hybrid warfare.

With the takeover of Crimea by masked Russian soldiers/fighters without national insignia in February/ March 2014, and with the Kremlin initially denying its involvement, war became ‘hybrid’ in our minds. The ensuing conflict in Eastern Ukraine, with separatism supported by neighbouring countries and the armed establishment and military securing of pseudo-state people’s republics – including recourse to pro-Russian fighters ‘on holiday’ – has reinforced the impression of this form of warfare, raising the question: What is hybrid warfare exactly?

The article argues that the specific nature of hybrid warfare is essentially a strategic matter characterised by three key tendencies and their orchestration within a hybrid ‘grand strategy’:

Focusing the decision for the war/conflict as such primarily on a broad spectrum of non-military centres of gravity in a flexible and dynamic manner.
Operating in the shadow of various interfaces against specific vulnerabilities of the opponent, thereby challenging traditional lines of order and responsibilities, creating ambiguity and paralysing the decision-making process of the opponent.
A creative combination and parallel use of different civilian and military means and methods, categories and forms of warfare and fighting, thus creating ‘new’ mixed, hybrid forms.

At the same time, there is a growing sense that hybrid forms of warfare will shape the face of war in the 21st century. They seem to offer unpretentious political success by smart recourse to a limited, deniable and supposedly manageable use of force. The assumption that the risk of military escalation and political damage could be kept within limits may at the same time increase the likelihood of the offensive use of hybrid forms of warfare. For this reason, it is high time to improve our common and comprehensive understanding of hybrid warfare as a precondition for common and comprehensive action in defence and response.

The complete article can be downloaded here.

August 14, 2019

First Security Expert Pool meeting at University of Jyväskylä

Hybrid CoE organised the first Security Expert Pool meeting in cooperation with the University of Jyväskylä, in the city of Jyväskylä, Finland. Experts from 14 different member states engaged in a thought-provoking exchange on security-related trends for three days. Intensive discussions and panels revolved around future vulnerabilities, security, and emerging threats. The invaluable insights provided by our experts were highly appreciated, and the event marked an excellent start for long-term cooperation.

Hybrid CoE expert pools comprise senior researchers representing Hybrid CoE’s member states, and focus on a specific topic relevant to hybrid threats. In addition to the Security Expert Pool, Hybrid CoE has organised expert pool meetings on Russia, the Western Balkans, China, and Law.

Hybrid CoE would like to extend its thanks to the University of Jyväskylä for its outstanding cooperation.