Page 193 - Cyber Terrorism and Extremism as Threat to Critical Infrastructure Protection

Section II: Cyber Terrorism and Security Implication

for Critical Infrastructure Protection

Hyper Threats to Critical Infrastructures in the Region of
South-Eastern Europe: A Wake-up Call for South-Eastern
European Leadership

Metodi Hadji-Janev

The contemporary security reality is complex and unpredictable. Thanks to technological
development, intensified globalization and a major shift in international politics, state and
non-state actors are able to pose asymmetric, cyber and hybrid-based threats to South-Eastern
European democracies. The ongoing artificial intelligence competition at the global level is
expected to give new momentum to the geopolitical and security context. The ability of these
systems to collect and process mega-data in almost no time and execute functions beyond
human capacities’ limitation in the security context elevates asymmetric, cyber and hybrid-
based threats to a whole new “hyper threat” level. These threats are real and will profoundly
change, among other things, the approach to critical infrastructure protection/critical infor-
mation infrastructure protection. Therefore, the South-Eastern European leadership needs to
seriously consider and confront the hyper based threats that are just around the corner.

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