The threats to our vital digital ecosystem have become highly complex and diverse. Disruptions are caused by cyber and cyber-physical attacks, sabotage, disinformation, and other activities by malicious actors, as well as natural phenomena such as wildfires, floods, and storms, which are accelerated by climate change. The complexity and dynamics of the threat landscape require analyzing it through the lens of geopolitics. The rapidly increasing hybrid confrontation, including war, requires new analytical and strategic competencies that are not sufficiently available. Physical and cyber sabotage, such as against European rail signaling networks and mobile infrastructure, GPS spoofing and jamming, and destroying underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, highlight our vulnerability.
Our research shows that policymakers, regulators, and companies operating critical infrastructure urgently need to increase vigilance to protect the digital ecosystem from these threats. Our white paper “Digital Infrastructure Resilience and Security – Policy Implications and Mitigation Measures” (which can be found in the download area) recommends that a new form of public-private partnership between governments and the private sector will enhance the resilience and security of digital systems. A set of recommendations will help policymakers, regulators, and business leaders in this area to develop a coherent digital strategy and implement effective measures to combat the new threat scenarios.
(I thank Helmut Spudich for his valuable input for this text.)