Rising Concerns Over Hybrid Threats from Russia
NATO members, particularly those in Europe, are increasingly worried about a series of suspected hybrid attacks from Russia. These threats include cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and drone harassment. The recent incidents have caused significant disruptions, with airports in countries like Denmark and Germany forced to close due to sightings of unidentified drones, leading to delays for passengers.
European officials believe that the aim of these attacks is to create chaos in daily life and undermine the morale of European citizens. In an interview with Euronews, Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer, NATO’s first Chief Information Officer (CIO), emphasized that these attacks are likely to become more frequent in the future.
Preparing for the Future of Warfare
During his speech at the IT Directors Forum 2025, Boudreaux-Dehmer discussed the importance of cyber resilience. He told Euronews that the alliance is doing everything possible to protect the one billion citizens living across its 32 member states.
Euronews: NATO countries are facing increasing hybrid attacks combining cyber attacks, disinformation, and drone interference. How well prepared is the alliance to deal with this kind of new hybrid warfare?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: I think we are very well prepared and we are always doing more. You are absolutely right, the war of the future is no longer a kinetic war on the battlefield as we know it historically. There is a hybrid aspect. We are spending a lot of time, a lot of energy and a lot of effort to prepare as best we can for this hybrid war of the future.
Addressing Drone Incidents
Euronews: Do the recent drone incidents that disrupted European airports and airspace highlight gaps in NATO’s collective defence mechanisms?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: I don’t think they are gaps. I think what’s happening is that technology is evolving and we’ve seen that, and now there are these increased drone attacks that have us concerned across the alliance. And they’ve caused tremendous disruption. So Brussels airport was affected by this, Munich airport, many airports.
It’s something we took action on immediately. Now we’re focusing specifically on that, the threat of drones, which was also a discussion at the EU level about how to build a drone wall, how to do different things with drones.
I think from now on there will always be an upgrade of technology from the other side, and that’s something that we have to deal with and that we have to think about, constantly prepare and be better at what we do to defend the alliance.
Proactive Measures and Technological Evolution
Euronews: Should we have been more proactive?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: I think it’s not predictable. We need to respond to what happens. And I’m really proud when I look at what teams in different nations have done, as well as NATO, in terms of how quickly we’ve responded to it.
Euronews: It seems that technology is making conflicts more unpredictable. What message would you send to Europeans concerned that digital warfare is outpacing our ability to defend ourselves?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: I don’t think it is. I think there is always, as I mentioned earlier, a spiral that is going up, new technical capabilities are emerging and they will be used by our adversaries, but they will also be used by us. It’s just our duty to prepare ourselves as best we can to be faster, to use technology wisely and to respond to the threats we face.
Cyber Defence Successes and Challenges
Euronews: Would you share an example of a cyber attack or attempted invasion that NATO successfully detected or neutralised?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: I can’t talk about specific attacks, as you might imagine, but we have a very, very strong threat response team, so we have a risk-based approach that accounts for the ever-changing threat picture, and that’s how we prepare.
We also have a new cyber defence centre embedded in NATO that we’re building in Belgium. And that’s one of the fundamental building blocks that we have to ensure that we are increasingly prepared for cyber attacks and other types of attacks.
Protecting Strategic Assets in the Mediterranean
Euronews: NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence reported an increase in the number of cyber attacks targeting maritime infrastructure in Europe and, more specifically, in the Mediterranean. Given Greece’s strategic role in the region, how is the alliance working to protect Greek assets?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: There’s a lot of interaction with Greece in the broader alliance, and Greece has taken steps to protect itself, and we’re looking at that for the overall alliance, because one of the things about cyber is that it’s not limited geographically. Cyberspace is a very fluid mechanism.
Euronews: Do countries like Greece need to adjust their defence strategies, and if so, in what direction?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: It’s a question that Greece needs to answer. Generally for the Alliance, what we’re thinking more and more about is how do we connect with these hybrid threats, this kind of mixed attack where there would be a hybrid aspect like what we’re seeing with drones, where we have a cyber-optical angle, and how can we better protect ourselves from that.
Coordination Among Nations
Euronews: Is it easy to coordinate all these different states to have a common strategy?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: What if it’s easy? I think it’s a big question because it’s 32 allies united to really protect the security of a billion people on the planet, the people living in the allied nations.
There are a lot of geographical differences. Each ally has a specific profile in terms of geography, needs and different things. So what makes it much easier, I would say, to harmonise the different approaches between nations is that we are united under one goal, and that is to maintain the security of the alliance.
Collaboration with the Private Sector
Euronews: Defence, more specifically cyber defence, is also becoming an economic pillar. How are you working with the private sector to achieve the goal of strengthening our defence?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: That’s an excellent question. Well, cybersecurity, cyber defence is a team sport. So it always requires everyone to really participate in it. Governments play a big role, NATO plays a role, academia, but also private industry. And if you think about a lot of the technologies that we use are created by private industry companies, right? That automatically facilitates an interaction that’s necessary, but there’s a lot of specialised knowledge in the private sector, so it’s vital for cybersecurity and cyber defence and keeping us safe.
Technology Sources and Regional Operations
Euronews: Is this technology mostly coming from Europe or from outside Europe? Do you have operations in Greece?
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: I can’t speak for specific companies, but there is a spread between the two continents. There are obviously big American technology companies that we work with, which are the big names. But there are also a lot of European companies that have gone up and are continuing to go up, with the increases that we have in defence spending. We’re seeing a lot of money actually going into the defence sector, which is a great result, and a lot of money going into the private sector to upgrade a lot of companies.
