Malign actors, mainly Russia but not exclusively, are using all types of instruments to test our societies and democracies, and cyber issues are a priority for Romania, Presidential adviser Luminita Odobescu said on Monday at the Bucharest Cybersecurity Conference (BCC2025).

„We, in the European Union and NATO, place security at the forefront of our actions. With the war in Ukraine, we’ve seen that everything can be weaponised, including societal behaviour, through hybrid actions. This aspect is extremely important, because in recent years we’ve found that cyberattacks don’t come alone. Malign actors, mainly Russia but not only, are using all kinds of tools to test our societies and democracies. We’ve seen this in Romania during the electoral process. We were confronted then with 85,000 cyberattacks. We must work in a coordinated way, because, as I said, cyber threats don’t come alone. Therefore, we need to be aware of this serious threat and use all the tools we have at EU level, NATO level, bilaterally and nationally, starting, off course, with education, the private sector, government agencies. It is a coordinated effort, an integrated approach, because we have to act as a society. Cyberattacks know no borders,” Odobescu mentioned.

According to the quoted source, cooperation in cybersecurity is extremely important both within the European Union and with NATO and strategic partners such as the US.

„Cyber issues are a priority for Romania, including in the negotiations for the next EU budget, as they are part of our proposals on innovation, defence and our security strategy. (…) Freedom of expression is essential, but freedom of expression does not mean the freedom to manipulate or to be manipulated. That is a major difference. We must protect our societies, democracies from Russian interference, because this is the reality and we cannot change geography. With the war in Ukraine, we’ve seen this in Romania, and it’s happening across all European countries, and I must be very honest, I strongly believe no country is immune to interference, to hybrid threats, to the actions of violent actors who threaten our societies. I believe that the US is Romania’s strategic partner and we must continue to discuss with them, to cooperate in the cyber domain. Cooperation is important for all of us in the EU, in NATO, and with our partners as well,” the Presidential Administration representative said.

Odobescu believes that cybercriminals aim to create distrust in institutions, manipulate the public and spread hatred.

„How can we respond? By working together, finding solutions together, with tailored responses and an integrated approach, because this is not only the responsibility of the colleagues handling cyberattacks. We need to coordinate actions as a Government. We need to work with our industry, because hackers are sometimes one step ahead. We also need to prepare society, to educate, train and explain, because it is also our responsibility to protect the population. Responding to cyber threats, to hybrid threats is part of our responsibility,” Luminita Odobescu argued.

The 2025 edition of the Bucharest Cybersecurity Conference (BCC2025), which takes place between 6 and 9 October, is organized by the Romanian National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC), with the support of the Romanian National Coordination Centre (NCC-RO) and the National Association for Information Systems Security (ANSSI).

AGERPRES