Nordic Security Advisory

Beyond reach: platform and infrastructure dependencies in Nordic counterterrorism and counterintelligence

Nordic counterterrorism and counterintelligence agencies operate in a digital environment increasingly shaped by actors outside their legal jurisdiction. This report examines two distinct but interconnected vulnerabilities affecting investigative and institutional resilience. The first concerns access to digital evidence. Radicalisation, recruitment, and foreign intelligence activity now occur largely on commercial platforms headquartered outside Europe, making timely access to investigative data uncertain and often slow. The second concerns reliance on foreign-controlled digital infrastructure used by public institutions, particularly cloud services and communications platforms operated by U.S.-based providers.

Using the Nordic region as a case study, the report analyses how these dependencies interact with highly digitalised societies, limited investigative resources, and fragmented legal frameworks governing cross-border evidence access. While current debates on technological sovereignty increasingly address infrastructure dependence, the investigative challenges posed by platform-controlled digital environments remain less resolved. The report concludes with policy recommendations aimed at strengthening Nordic cooperation, improving digital investigative capabilities, and addressing the gap between evolving digital threats and existing institutional responses.

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The vulnerability of high-trust societies: the case of Finland’s comprehensive security model

Europe’s security environment is increasingly shaped by sustained low-threshold pressure that exploits societal, informational, and institutional vulnerabilities rather than military force alone. Using Finland as a leading case, this analysis shows how declining institutional trust is emerging as a concrete security risk within high-trust Nordic systems built on voluntary compliance and coordination. Erosion in trust amplifies the impact of hybrid activity, persistent ambiguity, and low-cost asymmetric tactics, such as drone incursions near critical infrastructure, by slowing alignment, increasing coordination costs, and widening space for hostile narratives. The core finding is clear: in a contested security environment, institutional trust functions as a strategic enabler comparable to critical infrastructure, and its gradual erosion narrows margins for decisive action. Sustaining psychological resilience and legitimacy is therefore not a societal concern but a security imperative for Nordic states operating under continuous pressure.