Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare in the European Union: Current State, Threats, and Responses

Cybersecurity has become an integral part of modern society, with the digital revolution significantly affecting our daily lives, and is one of the most important challenges of the contemporary world, due to both the complexity of information systems and today’s society. The European Union increasingly finds itself on the front lines of cyberspace. As government services, critical infrastructure, businesses, and society become ever more digital, the EU faces a rising tide of cyber threats that endanger economic stability and even national security. Cybersecurity and cyber warfare are intertwined in a complex relationship that shapes our digital world. Cybersecurity has moved from the periphery to the center of European security concerns. Over roughly fifteen years, the European Union and its member states have been forced to reckon with cyber incidents ranging from nuisance website defacements to crippling ransomware on hospitals, from stealthy state espionage to operations amounting to cyber warfare.

Threats of Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity

Artificial intelligence enables automated decision-making and facilitates many aspects of daily life, bringing with it improvements in operations and numerous other benefits. However, AI systems face numerous cybersecurity threats, and AI itself needs to be secured, as cases of malicious attacks have already been reported, e.g. AI techniques and AI-based systems can lead to unexpected results and can be modified to manipulate expected results. Therefore, it is essential to understand the AI threat landscape and to have a common and unifying basis for understanding the potential of threats and consequently to perform specific risk assessments. The latter will support the implementation of targeted and proportionate security measures and controls to counter AI-related threats. This article explores the potential threats posed by AI in cybersecurity and discusses the implications for individuals, organizations, and society at large.

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