The EU CyberNet Summer School 2025, held in Berlin from 13th to 15th August 2025, brought together a diverse group of cybersecurity professionals, policy experts and practitioners from across Europe, Latin America and Africa, each with unique motivations and insights. This year’s focus on AI, disinformation and cyber crisis management made the exchanges especially timely, as participants reflected on the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly evolving digital landscape and noted the unique environment of the Summer School as a place where technical and non-technical perspectives intersected.
Main Motivation and Impressions
For many participants, the EU CyberNet Summer School 2025 was about building skills needed to manage today’s fast-evolving crises. “I wanted to deepen my knowledge on how to deal with cyber crises, especially now that AI-powered interventions can destabilise not only organisations, but also societies and countries,” said Cosmin Marin, who also noted the value in mixing lectures and simulations. César Moliné Rodríguez agreed by noting that attacks combining AI and disinformation “can erode confidence in our institutions, democracy and values while also causing real-world harm.” For Cristos Velasco, the main interest was ”the complexity of the topic – the intersection of cybersecurity, AI and disinformation campaigns” that got him to join.
Some other participants were driven by curiosity and a chance to broader perspectives. “Disinformation and misinformation are very important. While not my specialty, I can integrate these into my everyday work,” explained Gabriella Biró. Kayle Emily Giroud explained that she joined to explore links between disinformation and cybersecurity more in depth.
The Summer School’s collaborative environment also left a strong impression. “My main motivation was to exchange knowledge and experience with peers from different countries – not only from technical aspects, but also how we approach policy governance and crisis management,” said Andres Velazquez. Jorge Mora Flores stressed the value of sharing experiences across governments, private sector and academia, while Radoslaw Gnat highlighted that participants are very willing to share their experiences.
Experience with the EU CyberNet Expert Pool
The EU CyberNet Expert Pool is, above all, about meaningful exchanges. “It is a unique opportunity to share knowledge between cybersecurity experts around the world,” explained Cosmin Marin. He stressed that with AI rapidly transforming the field, “bringing people with different expertise together and having them interact is very valuable thing to have nowadays.” Others agreed, noting that the Pool creates space to share experiences across sectors – governments, academia and private sector alike.
The value of bridging gaps between people and institutions also stood out. “I joined the Expert Pool because it creates a bridge between professionals and institutions that might otherwise never cross paths,” said Andres Velazquez. He highlighted benefits such as a trusted network, international collaboration and the chance to contribute expertise where it is most needed. Several participants, including Gabriella Biró and Kayle Emily Giroud echoed this point, stressing that the diversity of perspectives makes cybersecurity discussions richer and more practical.
For some, the attraction of the EU CyberNet Expert Pool lies in the ongoing exchanges and global scope. “Out monthly meetings cover topics like AI, adversaries or developments in law and compliance,” noted Radoslaw Gnat. “The biggest benefit is being with people who are also focusing on cybersecurity and learning something new from them.” Similarly, Cristos Velasco underlines the breadth of network – it is not only European, it is also open to Latin America and the Caribbean and beyond: “This combination of best practices and expertise is a very useful tool for collaboration and cooperation.” As Jorge Mora pointed out, the Expert Pool ultimately provides a rare opportunity to connect with colleagues worldwide, compare challenges and work towards a stronger cybersecurity.
Pressing Issues in Cybersecurity
“One of the most pressing issues today is the speed at which threats evolve compared to the speed at which organisations and government can adapt,” said Andres Velazquez when discussing current issues in cybersecurity. He pointed out to ransomware, supply chain compromises and AI-powered social engineering as areas where attackers are moving faster than defenders can keep up with. Comin Marin echoed this concern, noting that “AI is part of this new type of attacks. The bad actors are using it socially to destabilise societies, companies, countries and organisations – so if the bad guys use it, so should we.”
Risks are not only technical but also societal. Gabriella Biró stressed that the overreliance on AI-generated answers can backfire: “everyone believes what they get from AI. People think they understand the risk and if not, they just ask the AI – this could go terribly wrong if they don’t listen to experts.” Cristos Velasco added that criminal groups are already exploiting AI for cybercrime, forcing law enforcement and the judiciary to adapt: “Authorities need to leverage these same tools, not only to investigate but also to improve the efficiency of the juridical system.” Meanwhile, Radoslaw Gnat highlighted another dimension: regulatory pressure. The pace of new legislation is overwhelming, he argued, and professionals must adapt quickly while remembering that cybersecurity is not only about technical skills, but also governance and compliance.
Several participants underlined that this is precisely where EU CyberNet plays a vital role. “EU CyberNet is ideally placed to not only respond with training and other capacity building initiatives, but also to build trust that is necessary for countries in Latin America and the EU to collaborate for a safer cyberspace,” said César Moliné Rodríguez. Andres Velazquez agreed, noting that cross-border cooperation is essential: “EU CyberNet can be especially helpful by sharing actionable intelligence and building capability scenarios like crisis management, incident response coordination and capacity building in countries that need to strengthen their cyber resilience.” For experts like Jorge Mora, the Expert Pool is important: it fills the knowledge gaps around emerging technologies by connecting professionals with different skills who can support each other and work together to meet these global challenges.
The EU CyberNet Summer School took place from 13th to 15th August 2025 in Berlin, Germany and was organised by the EU CyberNet, a EU-funded project implemented by the Estonian Information System Authority, in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office.
