The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has significantly destabilised cyberspace, marked by surge in cyber-attacks from Kremlin-affiliated and commercial cyber-criminal groups. These attacks threaten critical European infrastructure, including healthcare, energy, and banking. State-sponsored activities from China, Iran, and North Korea are worsening this landscape, with China notably engaging in extensive cyber espionage. Additionally, emerging technologies such as Al and quantum computing present both opportunities and risks, with their misuse by malicious actors posing severe threats.
Emerging technologies, such an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, offer significant promise in bolstering cybersecurity capabilities such as adding a critical layer of automation to security of services, though they can have devastating implications when deployed by malicious actors. The deployment of AI algorithms to automate attacks and the creation of deep fake videos are two already quite prevalent misuses of the technology. These challenges are compounded by escalating pressure to earmark resources for cybersecurity both within the EU and by Member State governments. Additionally, there is a sizable disparity in priority accorded to cybersecurity within EU Member States, contributing to uneven exacerbating security vulnerabilities across European networks.
The policy brief Addressing Cybersecurity Challenges and Policy Gaps offers recommendations on the priorities that the European Commission should adopt in the area of cybersecurity it's challenges and policy gaps. The brief is part of the GLOBSEC consultation project and is included in the publication Pivotal Moment for Europe: Central European Proposals for the Next EU Leadership.
Read the full report and individual chapters below.
