The information centers on a strategic cybersecurity perspective rather than a specific technical vulnerability. NTT’s chief cybersecurity strategist Mihoko Matsubara highlights that China’s approach to cyber operations is characterized by a notable absence of overt attacks or public cyber conflict, contrasting with Russia’s more noisy and visible cyber activities. This 'cyber silence' is considered more concerning because it implies a focus on stealth, long-term espionage, and influence campaigns that evade detection and attribution. The strategist also discusses the complex geopolitical challenges surrounding 5G technology deployment, which is critical infrastructure vulnerable to supply chain and nation-state risks. Additionally, the threat posed by artificial general intelligence (AGI) to societal security is mentioned, indicating emerging concerns about future cyber risks. Although no specific vulnerabilities, exploits, or attack vectors are provided, the strategic insight suggests that European organizations must prepare for subtle, persistent threats that may not manifest as traditional cyberattacks but could compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability over time. The medium severity rating is appropriate given the indirect nature of the threat and the absence of immediate exploitation evidence. The lack of technical details limits precise mitigation but underscores the importance of strategic cybersecurity posture, intelligence sharing, and resilience building.

For European organizations, the impact of China's 'cyber silence' strategy could be significant despite the absence of overt attacks. Persistent, stealthy cyber espionage can lead to prolonged data exfiltration, intellectual property theft, and compromise of critical infrastructure without immediate detection. This can undermine national security, economic competitiveness, and public trust. The geopolitical dimension involving 5G infrastructure raises concerns about supply chain integrity and potential backdoors or vulnerabilities introduced during deployment, which could be exploited for surveillance or disruption. The evolving threat landscape with AGI also suggests future risks that could amplify cyberattack sophistication. European entities involved in critical sectors such as telecommunications, energy, finance, and government are particularly at risk. The covert nature of these threats complicates detection and response, potentially leading to delayed incident identification and remediation, increasing the overall damage and recovery costs.

European organizations should adopt a multi-layered defense strategy emphasizing advanced threat intelligence and anomaly detection to identify subtle indicators of compromise. Enhancing supply chain security is critical, especially for 5G infrastructure components, through rigorous vendor assessments, hardware and software integrity verification, and continuous monitoring. Collaboration with national cybersecurity agencies and international partners can improve situational awareness and response capabilities against stealthy nation-state threats. Investing in employee training to recognize social engineering and insider threats can reduce attack vectors. Organizations should also implement zero-trust architectures to limit lateral movement within networks. Preparing for emerging risks related to AGI involves supporting research on AI security and integrating AI-driven defense tools. Regular security audits, penetration testing, and incident response exercises tailored to detect low-noise threats will improve resilience. Finally, policy advocacy for transparent and secure technology standards can help mitigate geopolitical risks associated with critical infrastructure.