Russia using criminal networks to drive increase in sabotage acts, says Europol
Source: The Guardian
Russia and other state actors are driving an increase in politically motivated cyber-attacks and sabotage of infrastructure and public institutions in the EU, the bloc’s police enforcement agency has found.
Europol’s 80-page serious and organised crime threat assessment for 2025 also describes in detail how “hybrid threat” actors have established a “shadow alliance” with organised criminal gangs in Europe to try to destabilise the functioning of the EU and its member states.
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The report does not specifically identify Russia as a “hybrid threat actor”, though it notes: “There is an increase in politically motivated cyber-attacks against critical infrastructure and public institutions, originating from Russia and countries in its sphere of influence.”
The EU commissioner for internal affairs and migration Magnus Brunner said at the launch of the report: “Criminal networks that work on behalf of foreign powers – that is something new. Some threats enter our union in less than a second as an encrypted message, for instance, ordering an assassination of a rival drugdealer. Some threats enter in a few days, like a bus full of migrants, paid by the Russians.”
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/18/russia-criminal-networks-drive-increase-sabotage-europol
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