Hybrid threats — What they are and why do they matter?

Опубликовано: 25 Январь 2024
на канале: Hybrid CoE

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Hybrid threats are harmful activities that are planned and carried out with malign intent. They aim to undermine a target, such as a state or an institution, through a variety of means, often combined. Such means include information manipulation, cyberattacks, economic influence or coercion, covert political manoeuvring, coercive diplomacy, or threats of military force.

Authoritarian states aim to fulfil their strategic objectives, such as increased global influence and power, by means of interfering in and influencing other states. Hybrid threats are a cost-efficient way to achieve these objectives and affect the processes and institutions of democratically governed states. Hybrid threat actors seek to avoid both accountability for, and countermeasures against, their hostile activities. Hence, hybrid threats are designed in such a way that detecting and defending against them is difficult.

Hybrid threats aim to restrict the political room for manoeuvre by targeted states, including by undermining their citizens’ sense of security. They are designed to create fear or anxiety, and sow distrust towards authorities and other people, citizens, or groups. They target and exploit vulnerabilities inherent in democratic systems of government and in the fabric of democratic societies, such as political rights and individual liberties. By using hybrid threat activities, malign actors seek to aggravate wedges in society, to undermine social cohesion and trust among citizens and towards their democratic institutions.

To defend democratic societies against hybrid threats, hostile foreign influence must be countered through intensified cooperation – both within societies, and within and across governments. The first step is to raise awareness of hybrid threats.

This video has been designed by The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE). The Centre’s mission is to strengthen its Participating States’ security by providing expertise and training for countering hybrid threats, and by enhancing EU-NATO cooperation in this respect. Read more about our activities: https://www.hybridcoe.fi/

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