is characterised by an ongoing and high stakes technological arms race, between attack and defence. The nature of network connected infrastructure adds a further complexity. Firstly, these are ultimately global systems, both in terms of the supply chains for devices and software and in terms of the network that links them together; this means that any single State can only exercise a degree of control over the operation of the network in its territory. Also, and critically, these devices and systems are owned by a very wide range of types of businesses and organisations. In fact, many private homes already have several connected devices, something that is likely to become more prevalent with the ongoing rise of the Internet of Things (‘IoT’). This means that coordinating protective measures or responses to incidents or attacks across this very wide range of potential targets is a very complex challenge. Moreover, unless Governments are willing to insist on an intrusive system of monitoring, they have limited options available to them to predict or prevent all attacks or incidents on their territory or against their citizens or infrastructure. The challenges in this space extend to the most fundamental; the nature of cyber-attacks have often been such that many of them have traditionally not been reported or publicised, posing an obvious issue for Governments in understanding and responding to the underlying question. The increasingly complex and dynamic nature of the security challenges facing the State have already been recognised by Government with the establishment of a Cabinet Committee dealing with national security matters. The Government has also established the National Security Analysis Centre (NSAC) which will work across Government to support a coherent approach to assessing, understanding and addressing national security challenges, resulting in enhanced strategic advice for Government. 4.2 Hybrid Threats One of the more challenging issues to emerge in recent years has been the active use and refinement of hybrid threats. These threats are defined by the EU as being “multidimensional, combining coercive and subversive measures, using both conventional and unconventional tools and tactics (diplomatic, military, economic, and technological) to destabilise the adversary ”, and have arisen in a number of EU countries in the recent past. Many of these threats have had a cyber component, the most common of which has been the use of cyber tools to steal information for subsequent use in disinformation campaigns (so called ‘hack and leak’). By their nature, these campaigns are designed to be difficult to detect, and because of their explicitly political goals, even more difficult for public authorities to counteract. 14