The aim of the project is to develop a European network that is able to detect, prepare for and counter hybrid threats. This five-year-long project is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme. 

 

The EU-HYBNET project consortium consists of 23 organisations representing 16 European countries. The project is coordinated by Laurea University of Applied Sciences (https://www.laurea.fi). Laurea is the leading provider of civilian security education in Finland. It has built a noticeable international and EU funded security project portfolio. Dr. Päivi Mattila, director of the University’s Coherent Security strategic research area, is coordinating the EU-HYBNET project. The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE), located in Helsinki, Finland, is the main content coordinator for the project. 

 

According to Hybrid CoE’s Director of Research and Analysis, Hanna Smith, working with a versatile group of organisations and experts from the public sector, industry, SMEs, academia and NGOs provides a unique opportunity to develop new tools to enhance societal resilience.

 

"We are very pleased that EU countries are becoming increasingly aware that hybrid threats are not some distant and slight "disruption". The hybrid threats are a real threat to democracies, it is a real weapon that authoritarian countries are developing, using and will benefit in the future to destabilize our societies. Lithuania's experience in encountering and combating hybrid threats is very valuable in this project”, states L3CE Director Egidija Veršinskienė.  

 

“L3CE expertise in dealing with a wide range of cyber threats will be very useful in this project. Cyber vulnerabilities are very often used for hybrid attacks. L3CE leads the “Cyber Theme” in this project - there are 4 themes in the whole EU-HYBNET project that will be the main focus. This is a great recognition of L3CE's competence and experience”, said Evaldas Bružė, L3CE Innovation Architect.  

 

In the first phase of the project, partners will conduct a gaps and needs analysis in order to identify and understand the network participants’ requirements, and the obstacles to maintaining and improving their resilience in the face of hybrid threats. “Gaps and needs will be assessed and used for scenario building and training purposes in the following phases of the project”, explains Hybrid CoE’s Director of Research and Analysis, Hanna Smith. 

 

Project participants are: 

Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Finland Hybrid CoE, 

Finland Polish Platform for Homeland Security (PPHS), 

Poland University of Tromso (UiT), 

Norway Rise Research Institutes of Sweden KEMEA, 

Greece L3CE, Lithuania Universidad Rey Juan Carlo (URJC), 

Spain French Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, 

France European Organisation for Security (EOS) TNO, the Netherlands SATWAYS, 

Greece City of Espoo, 

Finland Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 

Italy National Intelligence Academy M. Viteazul, 

Romania Netherlands Ministry of Defence, 

the Netherlands Local Police of the City of Valence, 

Spain Polish Internal Security Agency, 

Poland Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection, 

Norway Maldita, 

Spain German Central Office for Information Technology in the Security Sector, 

Germany Competence Center COMTESSA, 

Germany Joint Research Centre European Commission (JRC) 

 

More information about the EU-HYBNET project can be reached here.  

 

About L3CE. 

The Lithuanian Cybercrime Center of Excellence for Training, Research and Education (L3CE) is a non-profit organization contributing to the strengthening of the capacity and capabilities of Lithuanian and EU law enforcement institutions in the fight against cybercrime. L3CE addresses rapidly changing and emerging security challenges such as hybrid threats, information security, etc. L3CE is active in several European Networks of Excellence (CMINE, ENLETS, SENTER, iLEANET) and carries out national and EU funded projects. L3CE, in collaboration with partners, provides law enforcement agencies in the EU with access to training programs, forensic tools developed by scientists and researchers, the latest inventions, technologies and methods for investigating cybercrime. L3CE's activities encompass two main areas. First, L3CE focuses on technologies and methodologies for identifying and stopping cyber, full-spectrum and hybrid threats. The methodologies being developed include both technological tools, as well as social and human behavioral factors. Second, another important area involves the uptake of innovation. L3CE develops methodologies to help law enforcement quickly understand, test and begin to use inventions and innovations in their day-to-day work. The localized “innovation factory” model developed by L3CE is receiving strong support by the European Commission and among EU national law enforcement agencies. 

 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No883054.