Skip to main content ITU
Logo
  • Programmes
    • BSc Programmes
    • BSc in Global Business Informatics
    • BSc in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies
    • BSc in Software Development
    • BSc in Data Science
    • Applying for a BSc programme
    • MSc Programmes
    • MSc in Digital Innovation & Management
    • MSc in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies
    • MSc in Software Design
    • MSc in Data Science
    • MSc in Computer Science
    • MSc in Games
    • Applying for an MSc programme
    • Student Life
    • Practical information for international students
    • Ask a student
    • Women in tech
    • Student organisations at ITU
    • Study start
    • Labs for students
    • Special Educational Support (SPS)
    • Study and Career Guidance
    • Exchange student
    • Become an exchange student
    • Guest Students
    • Who can be a guest student?
    • ITU Summer University
    • Open House
    • Open House - BSc programmes
    • Open House - MSc programmes
  • Professional Education
    • Master in IT Management
    • Master in IT Management
    • Admission and entry requirements
    • Contact
    • Single Subjects
    • About single subjects
    • Admission and entry requirements
    • Contact
    • Short courses | ITU Professional Courses
    • See all short courses
    • Contact
    • Contact
    • Contact us here
  • Research
    • Sections
    • Data Science
    • Data, Systems, and Robotics
    • Digital Business Innovation
    • Digitalization Democracy and Governance
    • Human-Computer Interaction and Design
    • Play Culture and AI
    • Software Engineering
    • Technologies in Practice
    • Theoretical Computer Science
    • Research Centres
    • Centre for Digital Play
    • Center for Climate IT
    • Center for Computing Education Research
    • Centre for Digital Welfare
    • Centre for Information Security and Trust
    • Research Centre for Government IT
    • Danish Institute for IT Program Management
    • Research entities
    • Research centers
    • Sections
    • Research groups
    • Labs
    • ITU Research Portal
    • Find Researcher
    • Find Research
    • Research Ethics and Integrity
    • Good Scientific Practice
    • Technical Reports
    • Technical Reports
    • PhD Programme
    • About the PhD Programme
    • PhD Courses
    • PhD Defences
    • PhD Positions
    • Types of Enrolment
    • PhD Admission Requirements
    • PhD Handbook
    • PhD Support
  • Collaboration
    • Collaboration with students
    • Project collaboration
    • Project Market
    • Student worker
    • Project postings
    • Job and Project bank
    • Employer Branding
    • IT Match Making
    • Hiring an ITU student or graduate
    • Make a post in the job bank
    • Research collaboration
    • Read more about research collaboration at ITU
    • Industrial PhD
    • Hire an Industrial PhD
    • Maritime Hub
    • Innovation and entrepreneurship
    • ITU Business Development
    • ITU NextGen
  • About ITU
    • About ITU
    • Press
    • Vacancies
    • Contact
  • DK
"The aim is our trust"
ITU  /  Press  /  News from ITU  /  "The aim is our trust"

"The aim is our trust"

As part of the Danish Science Festival, the IT University and the newspaper Dagbladet Information gathered a number of experts to discuss cyber warfare in Denmark and how prepared we are for it. The Minister of Resilience and Preparedness, Thorsten Schack Pedersen, also participated in the talk.

EventsCarsten Schürmann

Written 6 May, 2025 14:50 by Mette Strange Mortensen

Denmark is one of the most digitalised countries in Europe. So, what would happen if Denmark's digital infrastructure were attacked? This was explored by a panel consisting of Anders Puck Nielsen, military analyst at the Danish Defence Academy, Mille Østerlund, Head of Cyber Services at KOMBIT and Carsten Schürmann, Professor and Head of ITU's Center for Information Security and Trust (CISAT), when the IT University of Copenhagen filled Auditorium 1 for the Danish Science Festival. 

In a survey by Statistics Denmark, 81% of Danes responded that they agree or strongly agree with the statement 'I generally trust public digital solutions.' And this trust within society is crucial, as it can be challenged in cyber warfare. When hackers attack critical infrastructure, such as government websites or telecommunications networks, the real target is often trust.

"My colleagues at CISAT and I have researched many different aspects of cybersecurity and cyber warfare. I also travel around the world as an election observer, where I examine how technology is used in electoral processes. We can see that technology is now something that can be attacked by other states," said Professor at ITU, Carsten Schürmann. "We have a new situation in terms of warfare, where societal trust is at stake. In Denmark, we have built our society on trust. It is this trust that is at risk when we talk about cyber warfare, and that is very serious."

At the Danish Defence Academy, the new warfare in cyberspace is also being examined. They have noticed the same trends regarding the attack on societal trust.

"The cyber domain is a domain where things can happen all the time. We have what we call the attribution problem, where one must ask 'who is really behind this?'. And then it quickly enters the concept, which is a bit broader than just cyber, which is hybrid warfare. It is about how, in all possible ways, some try to destroy things for each other and achieve some goals without it becoming an open war with military means against military means. So, there are different methods to attack others, and there are different sectors or layers in society, and often it is trust that they try to hit, because they want to make people afraid," said Anders Puck Nielsen, military analyst at the Danish Defence Academy.

The pressure has increased

One of the sectors that is feeling the increased pressure of cyber-attacks is the water and utility sector. At Kalundborg Utility Mads Elmkvist is Head of IT, and he told the audience and the panel about the real experiences they have had. Kalundborg Utility provides, among other things, drinking water and district heating to the municipality's residents and businesses, including Novo Nordisk. For Mads Elmkvist and his employees, cyber-attacks are not just a hypothetical scenario. They are already feeling increased pressure.

Read more about ITU's research on cybersecurity

In Ukraine, they have already learned that openness and communication are key tools when it comes to protecting trust. Researchers at ITU are currently investigating what we can learn from the war in Ukraine.

Read more about ITU's research in Ukraine.

"I know that we can withstand the threats we see today, and when I say this so confidently, it's because we experience it daily. I can best speak for Kalundborg Utility, but it actually applies to the entire Danish utility sector, which is experiencing attempts at destructive attacks. And we are resisting them. We all have water and electricity," said Mads Elmkvist. "In the utility sector, we have been thinking about supply security for many years. It is the core function of what we do, to succeed in this. Now we have a new dimension, which increasingly involves attempts at destructive cyber-attacks, which we have not seen to the same extent as we do now. Fortunately, I have some skilled employees who succeed in resisting. We have a society where we trust that we can get electricity, water, and heat delivered."

Mads Elmkvist and Kalundborg Utility have also learned about cyber security, the hard way, but they now use their learnings to increase security for the entire utility sector.

"Kalundborg Utility has been open about being struck by a ransomware attack in 2021, which was a straightforward ransom attack, and this is something we have talked a lot about in the utility sector because we hope others can learn from it. We got through it relatively unscathed because we had the right procedures and tools available, and that learning should be shared. There could be some simple solutions that make us stronger the next time we are attacked,” said Mads Elmkvist.

Room for optimism

Just like Mads Elmkvist assured that the utility sector is ready to withstand threats and attacks, partly by being open about previous attacks, the other participants also shared how we in Denmark can prepare for potential attacks.

"Denmark is actually quite good at cybersecurity right now. In a report from the International Telecommunication Union, a UN organization, it was stated in 2020 that Denmark was ranked 32nd between Kazakhstan and China in terms of cybersecurity. In 2024, we are now a role model for other countries. This means that the investments in cybersecurity in Denmark have been very successful," said Professor Carsten Schürmann.

Mille Østerlund from KOMBIT said, that we need to continuously practice, because that is how we become better equipped to handle an attack. It is not only the responsibility of the general public, but equally the responsibility of the authorities to be prepared to provide assistance if services suddenly go down.

"I believe that as authorities, we should make an effort to have contingency plans for how public authorities can step in and assist in cases where some of the services we provide fail, and where lives may be at risk. We need to have plans for the worst-case scenario, and then we need to practice. What you train for never happens exactly as you expect. Something else happens, but by practicing, we intuitively learn how to act in a crisis situation. And then we become better at handling it. I think it is this awareness that we need to cultivate much more," said Mille Østerlund.

The problems are also on the political agenda. In 2024, the Ministry of Resilience and Preparedness was established and minister Thorsten Schack Pedersen contributed with knowledge about where we are today and what needs to happen in the future regarding the digital security of Denmark.

"We are working at full capacity to be geared up for the current risk landscape. This applies to both authorities – I play a strong role in ensuring cross-agency coordination – both in preventing and mitigating these obstacles and crises from hitting us, but also in ensuring that when they do hit us, they are handled as efficiently as possible and that we can return to normalcy," said Thorsten Schack Pedersen.

The trust between authorities, businesses, and citizens is what is at stake in cyber warfare. This was the focus of all participants. This could be a good sign when Denmark continues to prepare to be ready if cyber warfare truly hits. 



Further information

Theis Duelund Jensen, Press Officer, phone +45 2555 0447, email

News

Professor portrait: Veronika Cheplygina improves the field of machine learning through meta-research

Professor portrait: Veronika Cheplygina improves the field of machine learning through meta-research

26 May, 2025

On 10 June 2025 at 14:30, Professor Veronika Cheplygina will present her inaugural lecture in Auditorium 0 at the IT University of Copenhagen. The lecture is entitled: “Not real research”.

Professor portrait: Nutan Limaye is pushing the boundaries of complexity theory

Professor portrait: Nutan Limaye is pushing the boundaries of complexity theory

1 May, 2025

On 22 May 2025 at 14:30, Professor Nutan Limaye from the section Theoretical Computer Science will present her inaugural lecture in Auditorium 0 at the IT University of Copenhagen. The lecture is entitled “My reflections on the last two decades and Complexity Theory”.

Professor portrait Anna Vallgårda challenges the design of care technology

Professor portrait Anna Vallgårda challenges the design of care technology

24 April, 2025

On 9 May 2025 at 14:30, Professor Anna Vallgårda will give her inaugural lecture in Auditorium 0 at the IT University of Copenhagen. The lecture is entitled: ”Radical Redesign of Care Technologies”.

Is Denmark prepared for cyberwarfare?

Is Denmark prepared for cyberwarfare?

8 April, 2025

A group of researchers from the IT University of Copenhagen is investigating what Denmark can learn from Ukraine in terms of preparing for cyberwarfare. Cyberwarfare does not just affect governments and companies, but also civilians, and the researchers ask what should be done if we come under attack.

Researchers aim to teach math students critical thinking with data science

Researchers aim to teach math students critical thinking with data science

31 March, 2025

In a new research project at the IT University of Copenhagen and the University of Copenhagen, a group of researchers will investigate how data science can become part of high school mathematics education to provide students with a better foundation for critical thinking and the ability to illuminate and nuance claims they encounter in their daily lives.

ITU researcher secures grant to improve safety of AI systems

ITU researcher secures grant to improve safety of AI systems

19 March, 2025

At Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, Associate Professor Alessandro Bruni from ITU is currently conducting research on the mathematical foundation for developing verifiably correct machine learning frameworks. The project is supported by the Carlsberg Foundation.

Professor portrait: Vasilis Galis found his way in research on the Athens metro

Professor portrait: Vasilis Galis found his way in research on the Athens metro

13 March, 2025

On 28 March 2025 at 14:30, Professor Vasilis Galis from the section Technologies in Practice will present his inaugural lecture in Auditorium 0 at the IT University of Copenhagen. The lecture is entitled “Research against dead time”.

ITU researcher investigates elections in Greenland

ITU researcher investigates elections in Greenland

11 March, 2025

On 11 March 2025, the election for Inatsisartut (Greenland's parliament) will take place. For several years, researchers from ITU, led by Professor Carsten Schürmann and Center for Information Security and Trust, have been investigating election and the possibility of internet elections in Greenland, and the election today is no exception.

IRFD funded ITU project to develop theoretical foundation for probabilistic session types

IRFD funded ITU project to develop theoretical foundation for probabilistic session types

6 March, 2025

The increasing technological complexity makes probabilistic understanding and management of critical computing systems a necessity. A new research project, led by Associate Professor Marco Carbone, aims to develop the foundation for probabilistic session types to that end.

Urban highways are barriers to social connections

Urban highways are barriers to social connections

5 March, 2025

Researchers from IT University of Copenhagen have proved that urban highways limit social connections in the 50 largest cities in the US. It is the first ever quantitative evaluation of the barrier effect of urban highways in reducing social connections across neighborhoods.

New research to find efficient strategies for prevention of epidemics

New research to find efficient strategies for prevention of epidemics

26 February, 2025

Assistant Professor at ITU, Jonas Juul, receives a Novo Nordisk Foundation Data Science Investigator grant of DKK 6.5 million for a project that aims to improve statistical methods for predicting outbreaks of infections.

Within Limits – an exhibition on computation and constraint

Within Limits – an exhibition on computation and constraint

24 February, 2025

On 7 March, join Artist Jacob Remin, Associate Professor James Maguire and Postdoc Frauke Mennes from the Center for Climate IT at ITU for the launch of Within Limits – an art installation that questions and reimagines the scalar logics inherent in computational worlds.

ITU students and alumni win awards at Copenhagen Gaming Week

ITU students and alumni win awards at Copenhagen Gaming Week

21 February, 2025

ITU was represented with games developed by both students and alumni from the university at Copenhagen Gaming Week and ‘Spilprisen’ that took place last week. Students from the MSc Games won the award for ’Best Student Game’, while alumni from the same study programme won for ‘Best Debut’.

New research project to find a more inclusive way to develop algorithms

New research project to find a more inclusive way to develop algorithms

10 February, 2025

Associate Professor Veronika Cheplygina has received a Novo Nordisk Data Science Investigator Grant of almost DKK 11 million. The grant will fund research on how more inclusive teaching and research environments may lead to better algorithms for medical imaging.

Thesis on digital divide in prisons wins award

Thesis on digital divide in prisons wins award

31 January, 2025

Three students from ITU have won the Danish Institute for Human Rights' Thesis Award for their thesis "The Digital Divide in Prisons". The thesis examines how the digital divide between inmates in Danish prisons and the surrounding society can be bridged.

New ITU research analyses attacks on Large Language Models

New ITU research analyses attacks on Large Language Models

16 January, 2025

What are the intentions and profile of someone trying to use LLMs for malicious purposes? And how do they do it? In a new study, researchers from ITU define so-called “red teaming” of LLMs to enable better security in the future.

Jakob Grue Simonsen named new prorector at IT University in Copenhagen

Jakob Grue Simonsen named new prorector at IT University in Copenhagen

22 November, 2024

Jakob Grue Simonsen, who comes from a position as head of department at the Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, will focus on well-being and collaboration when he takes over as prorector at ITU on 1 January 2025.

IT University of Copenhagen reveals two new members of management

IT University of Copenhagen reveals two new members of management

18 November, 2024

At IT University of Copenhagen, future head of education, Luís Cruz-Filipe (L), and future head of research, Morten Hjelholt (R), will become part of the university management when both take up their positions on 1 February and 1 January 2025 respectively.

Video: Is artificial intelligence the key to human consciousness?

Video: Is artificial intelligence the key to human consciousness?

12 November, 2024

"Our future is going to look like science fiction." Associate professor at IT University of Copenhagen, Paolo Burelli, uses artificial intelligence to approach a better understanding of the human brain and consciousness.

Contact us

Phone
+45 7218 5000
E-mail
itu@itu.dk

All contact information

Web Accessibility Statement

Find us

IT University of Copenhagen
Rued Langgaards Vej 7
DK-2300 Copenhagen S
Denmark
How to get here

Follow us

ITU Student /
Privacy /
EAN-nr. 5798000417878/
CVR-nr. 29 05 77 53 /
P-nummer 1005162959

This page is printed from https://en.itu.dk/Research/PhD-Programme/PhD-Courses/Archive/PhD-courses-2021

Fejl i tilmelding