IRISSCON 2026 puts preparedness for cyberattacks and hybrid threats in focus
Ireland risks unpreparedness for cyberattacks and hybrid threats, warns IRISSCERT head.
Brian Honan, head of IRISSCERT, warns that Ireland is dangerously unprepared for sophisticated cyberattacks and hybrid threats, urging the government to urgently strengthen national security capabilities. He highlighted recent incidents like supermarket refrigeration system attacks and bomb threats as examples of how quickly threats can disrupt services, emphasizing the need for a coordinated national security strategy rather than isolated responses. Honan called for the full transposition of the EU's NIS2 Directive into Irish law and increased support for businesses, particularly SMEs, to bolster their cybersecurity resilience.
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The lesson from this incident
Full lessonIreland's failure to fully transpose the EU NIS2 Directive into national law leaves critical infrastructure operators — from supermarkets to public services — without a legally enforced baseline of cybersecurity obligations. The incidents cited, including attacks on refrigeration systems and coordinated bomb threats, demonstrate how hybrid threats can rapidly cascade into physical and economic disruption when no unified national response framework exists. SMEs in particular are left exposed because they lack the resources to self-organise resilience without regulatory guidance or government support. A fragmented, incident-by-incident approach to national security is insufficient against sophisticated, multi-vector threat actors. Coordinated national strategy, mandatory standards, and sector-wide information sharing are prerequisites for meaningful resilience.