Politics · Germany · 10 hrs ago
North Rhine-Westphalia seeks stronger defences against hybrid attacks
North Rhine-Westphalia is seeking stronger defences against hybrid attacks and cyberattacks, which can target systems and services as well as people.
State premier Hendrik Wüst invited representatives from Germany and countries including Ukraine, Poland, Israel and Japan to a resilience summit in Düsseldorf.
The state wants to learn from countries that regularly face these threats, including the Baltic states and Poland.
The concern follows incidents such as attacks on supermarket cooling systems and suspected sabotage at a power substation in North Rhine-Westphalia.
A suspected attack on the substation nearly caused a widespread power outage, according to the account of the incident.
Wüst said Germany faces a real threat and called for closer cooperation between the federal government, states and local authorities.
North Rhine-Westphalia plans to better protect critical infrastructure, but the summit did not set out specific measures.
North Rhine-Westphalia wants to strengthen protection for critical infrastructure against hybrid attacks and cyberattacks.
State Premier Hendrik Wüst said Germany is under real threat and called for closer cooperation between federal, state and local governments.
NRW hosted a resilience summit in Düsseldorf to learn from countries with experience defending against such attacks.
The summit included representatives from the Baltic states, Ukraine, Poland, Israel and Japan.
Recent incidents cited included a suspected act of sabotage at an NRW substation and attacks on supermarket cooling systems across Europe.
- Who
- North Rhine-Westphalia, led by Premier Hendrik Wüst, is seeking stronger defences. Representatives from Germany and several other countries attended a resilience summit.
- What
- NRW wants to improve protection of critical infrastructure and strengthen resilience against hybrid attacks and cyberattacks.
- When
- The summit took place on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
- Where
- Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
- Why
- NRW considers itself particularly threatened because it is an industrial region with a large population. It wants to learn from countries with experience countering hybrid attacks.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A suspected act of sabotage at a substation in NRW nearly caused a widespread power outage.
A security flaw in the PHP programming language disrupted many websites worldwide.
Wüst convened a resilience summit in Düsseldorf to discuss countering hybrid attacks and cyberattacks.
- State
- North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- Summit location
- K21 art exhibition venue, Düsseldorf
- Summit participants
- Baltic states, Ukraine, Poland, Israel and Japan
- Infrastructure concern
- NRW aims to better protect critical infrastructure
- Recent disruption
- A suspected substation sabotage in NRW nearly caused a widespread power outage
1 source
What people are saying
Germany is genuinely under threat.