Hybrid Cyber Warfare and Common Security in Europe

Project Information

CYBERCOMM

Grant agreement ID: 101107026

DOI

10.3030/101107026

Project closed

EC signature date 17 April 2023

Start date 1 September 2023

End date 30 November 2025

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 210 911,04

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITETET I TROMSOE - NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CYBERCOMM (Hybrid Cyber Warfare and Common Security in Europe)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project ‘Hybrid Cyber Warfare and Common Security in Europe’ (CYBERCOMM) will identify a set of effective measures to guarantee cybersecurity and personal freedoms. It is particularly important now when digital partnerships and alliances are playing a key role in countering hybrid warfare tactics employed by authoritarian regimes and organized crime in Eurasia. To address the current absence of a coordinated response to hybrid warfare, CYBERCOMM will lay a foundation for a common European approach to countering hybrid cyber warfare by mapping and analysing selected norms of national, European and International Law that could complement each other. The project will meet this objective by scrutinising examples of digital partnerships that could set a standard for the development of European technological sovereignty, external digital policy, critical infrastructure and joint defence capabilities. The main objective is to establish a network (cluster) of excellence of legal practitioners, scholars and students, who will cooperate on similar projects in the future, train their peers on measures against hybrid tactics and advise the EU, policymakers, corporations and national governments on how to create better coordinated responses to hybrid threats.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

As a key component of the project, my activities included direct dialogue with key stakeholders (i.e. experts, policymakers, and legal practitioners from EU and non-EU institutions, research centres and think tanks, civil society organisations, and public bodies working in the areas of criminal justice and cyber defence). My research and publication activities have been complemented by educating the next generation of law and security practitioners through a Transnational Law Course ‘Hybrid Cyber Warfare and Protection of Critical Infrastructure’ at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, under the Erasmus+ exchange programme, as well as designing and co-organizing trainings for civic activists and public officials, who use digital resources and the new technologies like AI to document and tackle hybrid warfare in Europe.

By carrying out these activities, CYBERCOMM has achieved its main goal - the project participants from different countries and regions will further continue their joint work and collaboration as a Cluster of Excellence for security proofing in and outside academia (advising policymakers, companies and governments on cybersecurity and hybrid threats) after the end of the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In terms of impact, my Fellowship was crucial in acquiring new core competencies in innovation, including exploring new cyber-defence concepts, networking, leading, and strategic planning. Achieving cross-border and cross-sectoral mobility, and gaining new expertise in cybersecurity, AI, crime control, and security, advanced my position in the field and supported my collaboration with leading universities and research centres in Europe.

Key needs to ensure further uptake and success of the project would include strengthening my ability to secure external funding, like ERC, and eventually qualifying for a professorship position. I work to meet the formal and informal requirements, including a diverse research profile with a focus on specific subjects at the intersections of law, digitalisation, security and sustainable development. The Fellowship helped me achieve the goal of fulfilling these requirements by integrating myself into international research networks, developing new knowledge across disciplines and preparing a model course on ‘Hybrid Warfare’ for a new cohort of security experts in Europe.
A short overview of the results:
- Enriched my research portfolio with additional expertise in cybersecurity and security law via my integration into the interdisciplinary research networks in Europe and Asia.
- Acquired research and project skills to act as a research leader and a project manager by successfully implementing research and communication activities under the project.
- Developed my network to collaborate with researchers working on similar issues in Europe (Norway, Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine).
- Acquired advanced teaching skills to reinforce my leadership potential by teaching a course on ‘Hybrid Warfare’ at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.
- Strengthened my grant-writing, networking and academic entrepreneurship skills required for my ERC starting grant application by attending events organized by the Aurora Outstanding programme at my host institution.