NATO trains countries to respond to cyber attacks on renewables

Since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, energy companies providing alternatives to fossil fuels have increasingly come under attack.

Transcript

00:00Renewable energy sources are under particular threat as part of growing hybrid warfare.

00:05Some of the technology is relatively new, so it's more vulnerable.

00:09And according to NATO officials, renewable energy is targeted

00:12as it represents a shift away from often Russian fossil fuels.

00:16Jönköping Energy in Sweden provides 40% of all energy to the region

00:21through renewable energy, hydro, wind and solar power for 186,000 people.

00:27It's working alongside NATO under the Nordic Pine exercise,

00:30helping participating nations prevent and react to cyber and other hybrid attacks.

00:37The attacker is more and more advanced.

00:39And I think some years ago people could say,

00:42no, we are so small, they will not hit us.

00:45Today, the system, the bots, etc., they can hit anybody.

00:50We can talk about, if you leave your system open without any kind of firewall,

00:55it can take seconds before you are hit because they found you.

01:00Cyber attacks from ransomware and also disinformation from either state and non-state groups

01:05is increasingly common as a means of doing harm to one's enemy

01:09without direct violence on the battlefield.

01:13Cyber attacks by Russia during the invasion of Ukraine 10 years ago

01:16were a major wake-up call to the renewable energy sector.

01:20NATO and its partners now very much focus on the threat of hybrid warfare

01:24and the impact this has on society.

01:26Ransomware is a business.

01:28The other thing is, you know, the dependency of electricity everywhere.

01:32We can't be without it.

01:34So, in that case, you can disturb a society very much by disturbing the electricity.

01:40And I think if you disturb the society, you will make people scary as well.

01:46What is going on? When will we get the electricity back again, etc.?

01:52I think it's a very good way to create a mess, if you would like to.

01:56The NATO-led Nordic Pine exercise is for the private and public sector,

02:00including research institutes.

02:02It concludes that the challenge of hybrid war, in particular cyber attacks,

02:06is best met with prevention and preparedness.

02:09And key to that, they say, is constant communication between governments,

02:12the private sector, the general public, and the military command.

02:16Shona Murray, Euronews, Jönköping, Sweden.

02:21Euronews.org