00:00Europe is increasingly finding itself on the front line of a shadow war.
00:04From cyberattacks targeting supermarket refrigeration systems
00:08to suspicious incidents disrupting commercial aviation,
00:12a growing number of hybrid threats are exposing the vulnerabilities
00:16of critical infrastructure across the continent.
00:19Russia and other hostile actors are suspected of exploiting these weaknesses
00:23to sow disruption, fear and mistrust.
00:27Is Europe doing enough to defend itself?
00:29For more on this, I'm now joined by Rio Terras,
00:32an Estonian member of the European Parliament from the European People's Party,
00:36where he serves on the committees for foreign affairs and security and defence.
00:40Good morning and welcome to the programme.
00:45Good morning.
00:46So why are seemingly mundane targets such as supermarkets, airports and transport networks
00:53becoming increasingly attractive to hostile actors?
01:00I would say that these targets are different.
01:03The attacks against the supermarkets are attacks against the infrastructure,
01:09which actually is not critical or vital services,
01:13because the critical and vital services like the airports, etc.,
01:20need to be disconnected from the Internet.
01:22And we have seen the attacks against the supermarkets,
01:25which, in my opinion, is just not enough finances from the side of the owner of the shops
01:33and not enough upgrades to the computer systems.
01:38I think that can be avoided and that is actually something which needs to be trained and regularly looked at.
01:48The other thing is the critical infrastructure and vital services,
01:52and there the responsibility of the states is very important.
01:56And also, the European Union has already decided about the network and the Information Security Act.
02:07Let me ask you this.
02:09Russia is the usual suspect when it comes to hybrid operations across Europe.
02:14But France has now accused Iran's Revolutionary Guard of orchestrating the supermarket cyber attacks.
02:19Do you believe Moscow and Tehran are coordinating their efforts to put pressure on Europe?
02:28I don't know.
02:29It is sure that they will be using both sides, but whether they coordinate, I am not that sure about
02:37it.
02:38But to create a cause before the elections in France, after the riots on the streets,
02:43it just fits to the picture, and the chaos and instability and the feeling in the population that government does
02:52not do enough,
02:53that is what they are aiming for, and that is very easy to do,
02:58especially in the times where we have Internet of Things, which normally is almost not protected properly.
03:04You can create very easily chaos without any big restrictions.
03:10I think we need to really attribute these attacks to the state actors, like the French did to the Iran,
03:19and then use our package of tools, sanctions, or diplomacy to deal with the things.
03:27And then the important thing is that the European Union needs to use its strength.
03:31All right.
03:32Rio Terras, MEP from Estonia, thank you very much for your time this morning.
03:39We'll see you next time.
