From GPS jamming to propaganda: how cyber conflicts impact our daily lives
Chris Kubecka closes Cybersec Europe
During her closing keynote at Cybersec Europe, Chris Kubecka, an internationally recognized expert in cyber warfare, will take the audience behind the scenes of conflicts in regions such as Ukraine and the Middle East. “Over the past four years, European security has been significantly undermined.”
“The war in Ukraine is the first digital violation of the Geneva Convention. And I witnessed it firsthand,” she states. Kubecka speaks from direct experience: she worked in Ukraine on securing critical infrastructure and saw how cyberattacks became an integral part of the conflict.
According to Kubecka, cyber warfare goes far beyond traditional hacking. It also includes psychological manipulation and the disruption of essential services. Using examples such as hacked ATMs and failing identification apps in Ukraine, she illustrates how digital tools are used to create maximum societal disruption. “Ukraine is a highly digitalized country. If you interfere with that, it has a major psychological impact.”
Digital piracy in the Strait of Hormuz
The impact also extends far beyond the conflict zone. What often remains underexposed, according to Kubecka, is the sheer scale of this digital warfare. “There are thousands of cyberattacks per day,” she says, despite this rarely making headlines. “These attacks go far beyond classic hacking.”
She points to geopolitical tensions and concrete examples such as GNSS spoofing and offensive cyber operations in strategic areas like the Strait of Hormuz — almost a form of digital piracy. Companies and organizations are often affected indirectly. “It often happens through soft targets, such as suppliers with weaker security,” she explains.
With her keynote, Kubecka offers a unique front-row insight into the reality of modern cyber warfare and its impact on Europe. “Over the past four years, European security has been significantly undermined, while traditional defense agreements have placed the EU in an uncomfortable position,” she concludes. “This exposes major cracks in our digital sovereignty, affecting critical infrastructure and even weapons systems.”
Chris Kubecka will speak on May 21 at 16:00 on the main stage of Cybersec Europe.
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