Hybrid threats to transport infrastructure: challenges for state regulation and national security

Abstract

In the context of modern global challenges, transport infrastructure plays a strategic role in ensuring economic stability, population mobility, effective functioning of supply chains and the state’s defense capability. At the same time, it becomes a target for hybrid threats that combine cyberattacks, physical sabotage, information manipulation and economic pressure. This problem is of particular importance for Ukraine, which has been in an active hybrid confrontation for more than a decade. Military actions aimed at destroying critical infrastructure, massive cyberattacks on transport networks, as well as external economic pressure create a complex challenge for the system of state regulation and ensuring national security.
The relevance of the study is due to the need to develop effective mechanisms of state policy aimed at increasing the resilience of transport infrastructure to new threats. Today, the destruction or incapacitation of key transport nodes can not only cause significant economic losses, but also cause social instability, disrupt the supply of critical resources, complicate military logistics and reduce the level of international trade. At the same time, foreign experience shows that the integration of preventive measures, modern threat monitoring technologies, cyber defense and information security allows minimizing the impact of hybrid attacks on the transport system.
The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the main types of hybrid threats that affect transport infrastructure, including: cyberattacks on automated transport management systems, physical sabotage against strategic facilities (bridges, railway junctions, airports, seaports), economic pressure (sanctions, blocking of transport corridors) and information and psychological operations (disinformation about the safety of transport routes, creating panic, undermining trust in state institutions in the transport sector).
The results of the study show that hybrid threats are systemic in nature and require a comprehensive response from the state. An assessment of the current state of security of Ukraine’s transport infrastructure was conducted, its main vulnerabilities were identified, including insufficient coordination between state and private entities in the field of transport security, the obsolescence of part of the regulatory framework, limited capabilities for crisis response to large-scale threats. A conceptual model of the state regulation strategy was proposed, which includes the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU standards and NATO practices, strengthening interdepartmental coordination, developing cybersecurity of critical transport facilities, integrating modern threat monitoring technologies, and implementing rapid response crisis centers.
Special attention is paid to the analysis of international experience in protecting transport infrastructure from hybrid threats, including the strategies of the European Union, the United States and NATO countries to ensure transport security. The feasibility of implementing best international practices in Ukraine is substantiated, in particular, the creation of a state system of cyber protection of the transport industry, the expansion of public-private partnerships in the field of transport hub security and the involvement of international technical assistance for the modernization of critical infrastructure.
The proposed measures include the creation of a nationwide transport security monitoring system, the implementation of the latest cybersecurity standards, the integration of artificial intelligence technologies to identify potential threats, and the development of international cooperation mechanisms to minimize external threats. Prospects for further scientific research in the field of strategic transport security management, risk analysis, and the implementation of new technological solutions for the protection of critical infrastructure are outlined.