Hybrid Attacks Threaten German Infrastructure and Aviation

Operators in aviation and national infrastructure are facing a growing wave of cyber and kinetic threats that have exposed fragile operational systems and prompted calls to strengthen vendor resilience and operational cybersecurity. In northern Germany, authorities are investigating coordinated drone swarms that surveyed power plants, a university hospital, a naval shipyard, an oil refinery and the state parliament in Schleswig‑Holstein amid fears the flights measured facilities for future attacks. Similar UAV sightings and disruptions have occurred across Europe, and German officials say cyberattacks, arson and sabotage are now happening "almost daily." German security services and experts increasingly suspect state-linked hybrid campaigns — naming Russia and China among suspects — aimed at undermining trust in institutions, and analysts estimate the economic fallout from such cybercrime runs into the hundreds of billions of euros. Together these developments show a convergence of cyber and physical threats that can paralyze transport, energy and health services and have spurred intensified investigations and calls for stronger cross‑sector defenses.