Hybrid threats – Scenarios and examples to support development of skills within the Police Authority
Publish date: 2021-04-15
Report number: FOI-R--5137--SE
Pages: 83
Written in: Swedish
Keywords:
- : Hybrid threats
- Police
- Scenario
- Gray zone
Abstract
Hybrid threats from an antagonistic state actor or its agents can appear in peacetime and have an impact upon both internal and external security. Furthermore, these threats can be difficult to understand or difficult to detect, which makes it necessary to both concretise the problems and at the same time increase the understanding among for instance police employees. Based on a basic understanding of the nature of hybrid threats, it might be possible to develop an ability to detect and manage them. This report introduces theoretical models which can be used to categorize hybrid threats depending on their nature. Furthermore, almost forty scenario building blocks are presented together with seven scenarios. The scenarios have different overarching themes and describe different things. For example, organized crime, public disorder and information retrieval. The scenarios do not describe what will happen. The approach is exploratory and describes what could happen and how this would influence The Swedish Police Authority. The report focuses on peacetime conditions. The appendix to the report presents documentation from about seventy reported examples and events. These are included to create method transparency and at the same time serve as inspiration for future work with scenarios or to be used in discussions. All in all, this report presents a multifaceted educational material that can be used by the Swedish Police Authority to increase employees' understanding of hybrid threats.