Summary of the panel discussion “Cybersecurity. How the West can arm itself”

At a time when 100,000 cyberattacks per day are the new normal, it's clear: Cybersecurity has become a battlefield.
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At Unternehmertag 2025, four leading minds from across the globe shared their insights:
• Lior Frenkel, CEO and Co-Founder of Waterfall Security Solutions (Israel)
• Steve Hill, long-time advisor to the British government on cybersecurity (UK)
• Dr Sarah Wolff, Member of the Executive Leadership Team at Deutsche Telekom Security (Germany)
• Dr-Eng. Marina Krotofil, expert for critical infrastructure protection (Ukraine)
• Moderated by Marc Kowalsky, Deputy Editor-in-Chief at BILANZ (Switzerland)

Insights from the frontline:
“Why waste time on complex cyberattacks if I can just bomb a power plant?” – That’s how one speaker explained Russia’s lack of large-scale cyber warfare early in the war. The Kremlin had planned for a short parade, not a drawn-out battle.

But cybercrime has surged – and stayed – in every geopolitical crisis: from Ukraine to the Middle East.

Most attacks are now detected and mitigated by AI – but behind the scenes, humans still watch, analyse and adapt.

Attribution is harder than ever. It’s not just the “usual suspects” like China, Iran, Russia or North Korea anymore. Even supposedly neutral states are turning into unpredictable players. As one panellist put it:
“The world has become more complex – for both the good guys and the bad guys.”

What's new – and terrifying:
We're seeing an exponential rise in cyberattacks with physical consequences – actual damage to buildings, infrastructure, people. In 2–3 years, the numbers will be astronomical.

So, what needs to change?
Governments and companies alike must become operationally resilient. Europe can no longer treat cyber as a side issue.

“Think like a Formula 1 team,” said one speaker – the pit stop is not about safety, it’s about speed. The same applies to cybersecurity: it's not just defence – it’s about staying ahead.

The private sector must strengthen its digital shields – from passwords and backups to incident response.

The boldest truth bomb of the day:
“580 million Europeans rely on 330 million Americans to defend them from 145 million Russians. That cannot – and should not – continue.”

Europe has the knowledge, talent and innovation power. But it must act – fast.
Cyber is no longer just a tech issue. It’s a matter of sovereignty.

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