Trend Hybrid threats as a structural feature

Summary

The report sees hybrid threats aimed at harming or influencing states and societies occurring more and more often. Both state and non-state actors can be involved, the activity usually stays below the threshold of war, and it is often unclear who is behind it. As digital means such as cyberattacks and disinformation spread and new technology makes attacks more powerful, hard-to-detect operations combining many tools and a wide range of actors are on the rise. The report describes the online information space as a geostrategic battlefield where information is manipulated to destabilise democratic societies, with generative AI increasing the risk of large-scale disinformation. In the Netherlands the line between state threats, crime and extremism is blurring, and the report regards hybrid threats as a structural feature of the present geopolitical context.