Sabotage a Clear Threat to EU Energy Infrastructure

Sabotage of EU’s gas and power infrastructure by Russia is a clear threat according to a senior NATO official via Montel.

• “For decades [Russia has] been mapping out the critical… undersea cables and pipeline on which we depend,” said James Appathurai, deputy assistant secretary general for innovation, hybrid and cybersecurity at the military alliance.
• Cybersecurity is also a threat as ransomware attacks covered up malware insertions into control systems. Malware could be turned on when “whatever adversary – principally Russia and China – want to use it,” he said.
• NATO members generally connect everything to the internet, “which is creating a very wide vulnerability,” said Appathurai.
• National governments are required under EU legislation to assess critical infrastructure risks to help support the EU’s efforts to improve supply security, according to Heike Buss from the European Commission’s home affairs department.
• An approach targeted to critical elements is required because it is not possible to always protect all 9,000km of gas pipelines in the North Sea that supply Europe, said Olav Aamlid Syversen at Equinor.