We develop and maintain security for the future

Critical infrastructure refers to systems that are vital for the operation of society and where disturbances will cause severe consequences. The areas include, for example, energy production and transmission, water supply and waste management, traffic and logistics systems, the financial system, and industrial production in critical sectors.

Security of supply means the ability to survive disturbances and crises with a minimum of special arrangements and detrimental impacts. This preparedness is created in advance by means of careful planning and the surveying of risks.

The significance of security of supply and the related arrangements vary from country to country, depending on their self-sufficiency, the structure of industry, geographical location, and security policy. In Finland, the focus areas are energy and food supply, logistics, cyber security, and healthcare and medicines. Even though society is responsible for security of supply, business life also plays a significant role and cooperation is necessary.

We are also advancing the military’s security of supply

By keeping critical infrastructure functional, we are directly affecting the functional capacity and well-being of individuals. 

We participate in the operation of the National Emergency Supply Agency and collaborate with the Digipooli preparedness organization in order to ensure that society’s vital functions – such as energy supply, healthcare, and logistics – remain operable in the midst of various cyber threats.

We have also been involved in the planning of the POIKKI24 exercise, which focused on preparing for an electrical distribution services outage in the Northern Finland area. We also actively took part in the Tieto24 exercise that was related to security of supply in the energy industry and its logistics.

As a Finnish defence industry company and a strategic partner to the Finnish Defence Forces, the military’s security of supply is also particularly significant to us; it means securing the Finnish Defence Forces’ operational capabilities during disturbances and emergencies by ensuring the availability of critical systems, materials, and competences.

Strategic partnership is the deepest and most comprehensive manner of cooperation between the Finnish Defence Forces and companies. Strategic partners, such as Insta, differ from traditional partners in that they collaborate with the Finnish Defence Forces both during times of peace and in emergencies.

Security of supply and critical infrastructure go hand in hand

The risks brought about by the current geological uncertainty, such as the expansion of hybrid influencing, can be brought up as topical threats. One of the areas of hybrid influencing is the risk of cyber attacks, which has substantially increased as a result of digitalization. Finns can experience the increase in hybrid influencing as the number of hybrid operations that have taken place in the Baltic Sea area and the denial of service attacks in the banking sector.

As a result of the global superpower and trade policy, the availability of materials and disruptions in production and logistics chains are a real threat to security of supply. We saw examples of this during the COVID pandemic, for example, when the availability of components was poor and logistics chains were not functioning. The dependency of the West on Chinese raw materials and production capabilities has also turned out to be a risk, as China has placed export limitations on rare earths, for example.

Security of supply and critical infrastructure are heavily interdependent. Food production, for example, requires energy, water, and logistics to operate. Physical and digital systems are also interdependent – electricity production requires information networks and vice versa.

Vulnerabilities and chains of disturbances may cascade. Due to these interdependencies, it is important to examine security of supply and critical infrastructure as a whole, and industrial actors should also have a broad understanding across several different areas. This will generate added value for the entire society.

Insta’s versatile role reinforces overall security

Insta operates within the critical areas of society. As a strategic partner to the Finnish Defence Forces, our defence business generates security of supply by, for example, providing avionics service for the current F/A-18 and future F-35 fighter jets and delivering command and control systems and information security products. Creating domestic security of supply and production capabilities also plays a key role in the growing drone business.

As a Finnish company in the defence sector, we play a key role in securing technological competences and security of supply for production and services activities. Security of supply is already considered in the early stages of product development, and ensuring component availability as well as production planning play a key role.

Our industry and cyber businesses operate in the field of critical infrastructure. We have customers in energy supply and distribution, the chemistry industry, water supply, and the food industry, for example. Water supply is important for Insta, as the water supply automation that we have delivered covers up to three million Finnish people.

Digitalization, such as IoT and AI, allow for even better critical infrastructure risk management as service needs and disturbances can be anticipated and identified even more quickly. At the same time, the importance of cyber security is emphasized during the planning and implementation stage of the solution as well as during its maintenance and monitoring.

Future outlook

The operation, resilience, and security of supply of critical infrastructure are further emphasized as uncertainty and hybrid influencing become more commonplace in the world. Finland has taken these matters seriously, and we are at a good level from a European perspective.

As a responsible industrial actor, we want to do our part for the security of supply of Finland and Europe. We combine state-of-the-art expertise and modern technology in order to create solutions that reinforce security and ensure the smooth operation of society.