Cyber operations, cognitive warfare, artificial intelligence in military conflicts: NCCC presents best practices at Hybrid CoE event in Finland

Nataliia Tkachuk, Head of the Information and Cybersecurity Service of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Secretary of the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity, took part in the 7th Annual Hybrid Conflict Symposium in Helsinki, Finland. The event, organized by the EU Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE), brought together leading experts from Europe, Australia, Japan, and the United States.

The topic of this year's symposium was cyber operations, cognitive warfare, and the use of artificial intelligence in military conflicts. Among the most discussed issues was Ukraine's experience in the war with Russia. Following the discussions, the speakers emphasized the need to create and implement a joint mechanism for countering cyber, information and hybrid threats at the EU-Ukraine level, one of the elements of which could be the creation of a Competence Center in Kyiv.

In her speeches, Natalia Tkachuk shared practical experience and lessons learned from the cyber war with Russia, familiarized the partners with the main initiatives and steps taken by Ukraine to achieve cyber resilience and counteract hostile cyber and information operations.

«Russia's aggression in cyberspace is not only directed against our country. The terrorist country cynically attacks partner countries and the entire Euro-Atlantic community. Even after the cessation of full-scale hostilities, hybrid aggression will continue. Russia will build up its potential for cyberattacks, disinformation, and interference in European elections to promote its interests, — said Natalia Tkachuk, — The EU currently lacks the human, technical, organizational, and legal capabilities to effectively counter it. We need to create an effective system of proactive cyber defense in Europe, developing offensive cyber operations to counter cyber threats to Russia. Ukraine is ready to provide its experience, technical and human resources as the basis for such a system».

During the discussions, the experts emphasized the need to build national models of AI and expand the options for its use in the interests of national security and defense, as well as to develop offensive cyber capabilities of European countries. It was emphasized that focusing solely on the development of policies to regulate artificial intelligence is not sufficient to ensure the advantage and counteract the malicious use of AI by hostile actors.

During the visit to Helsinki, consultations were held with representatives of the National Cybersecurity Center, the Ministry of Defense and the Parliament of Finland aimed at deepening cooperation in the areas of cybersecurity and information security between our countries.

A number of meetings were also held with representatives of Finnish business and the private sector who want to join the programs to support Ukraine in the field of cybersecurity.As part of the implementation of the strategic goals of cybersecurity policy and the tasks set by the latest decision of the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity of 10.04.2025, Ukraine is expanding cooperation and partnership in the field of cybersecurity