Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcast on the EU's approach to cyber diplomacy and cyber defence.

Malicious cyber activities pose an increasing threat to our societies, our economies and our political systems.

And no one is safe from virtual, yet very real, attacks.

So what tools does the EU have to respond to such threats?

And what is its strategy?

Join us in the world of cyberspace.

As society's dependence on the internet grows, so does the number and sophistication of cyber attacks.

Estimates suggest that by 2030, there will be 125 billion devices connected to the internet,

and 90% of individuals older than six years will be online.

But such connectivity also gives rise to manifold vulnerabilities.

Indeed, the global cost of cybercrime is estimated at around 530 billion euros,

and cyberspace is now officially considered the fifth domain of warfare alongside the traditional sea, land, air and space.

Attacks on critical infrastructure, such as our water management systems, energy grids, key functions that keep a society running,

have potential to completely paralyze a country as witnessed during the 2015 attack on Ukraine's

power grid right before Christmas Eve. They can also serve to disrupt electoral processes,

as was revealed during the 2016 US presidential election. As the recent coronavirus pandemic

is shown, cyber criminals are also quick to turn a crisis into an opportunity and take advantage of distracted governments to inflict even more damage on the population.

In recent months, as the world went into lockdown, cybercriminals targeted critical infrastructures such as hospitals and governmental organizations and took advantage of the

millions of people teleworking from unprotected Wi-Fi connections to increase the volume of

their attacks. The World Economic Forum has actually rated cyber attacks on critical infrastructure

as the fifth top global risk in 2020.

So the question is, what is the EU doing to protect itself and its citizens from new cyber

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