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.