Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has warned that there are “catastrophic risks” linked to hybrid warfare, including the use of cyberwarfare and influencing methods, such as the spread of fake news.
“Hybrid warfare is continuous and it affects the critical infrastructure, decision-making centres, essential services and resilience of every country, with daily, growing risks of catastrophic damage,” Crosetto said in a non-paper on combatting hybrid warfare published on Tuesday.
“The attacks – conducted on the level of disinformation, cognitive warfare and in the cyber domain – exploit the awareness that ‘the West often chooses not to respond'”.
The document said authoritarian states, which are capable orchestrating coordinated actions across multiple domains by mobilizing the entire state apparatus without any internal opposition, are often behind hybrid warfare.
It said various studies suggests the main actors engaged in hybrid activities globally include Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
It said numerous hybrid activities against countries supporting Ukraine were attributed to Moscow last year, with the aim of undermining the cohesion of the West, affecting supply chains and energy sources.
The document said this resulted in sabotage and cyberattacks of increasing intensity in Europe, as well as disinformation campaigns and the exploitation of migration flows for destabilizing purposes.
It said that, according to many authoritative observers, China has adopted an integrated approach that combines economic, technological, information, and diplomatic levers to weaken the EU and acquire strategic expertise.
