Hybrid Warfare - whats next?

This is not about politics.

Have you heard of espionage? I'm sure you have! We all watched a James Bond movie before. Specially the parts where he comes out of the ocean shirtless.
ok, stay with me.

These days, things are getting nuts. Israel was bombing Palestine (and vice versa) and then Iran got involved and then USA got involved and then USA bombed Iran and we might have the WW3 very soon - hopefully not.

The price of fuel has skyrocket because some of the oil comes from Iran. Everything is getting expensive. The world is dying (I'm being a little dramatic), but while people tell us to recycle cans, countries are spending millions in bullets and bombs. The average cost of 1 day of war is 172 million dollars.

So, how could they still battle, win, take advantage, be efficient and still "save" money?

Hybrid Warfare = military + cyber + information + espionage

Cyber has become part of the war , cyber is now a battlefield, as countries are using hacking to disrupt systems, media and critical infrastructure.
Disrupting communications, or using camera systems for reconnaissance, DDOS attacks, etc.
I attended a Google event today and they have shown this image (sorry for the imperfect frame).

These are some groups that have been targeting APAC

I confess I went home to research about them, and guess what, they are all state sponsored by CHI.. NA.

But what the Aussies have to do with all of that?

Australia is aligned with USA and FIVE EYES (what?).

FIVE EYES - The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an intelligence alliance uniting Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Formed after World War II under the UKUSA Agreement, it remains one of the world’s most comprehensive and secretive intelligence-sharing networks, coordinating primarily on signals intelligence (SIGINT) and cybersecurity.

Australia has deployed surveillance aircraft to the Middle East.
Australia supports allies with logistics and intelligence
Australia offered humanitarian visas to female Iranians soccer players

The thing is, China is not fighting for Iran, China has its own agenda. But, China has agreements with Iran.

How does Aussieland protect itself then?

Things like Essential 8 help , and the SOCI Act.

The SOCI Act is legislation designed to protect Australia’s critical infrastructure from threats like:

• Cyberattacks
• Espionage
• Sabotage
• Foreign interference

It gives the Australian Government stronger powers to monitor, regulate, and respond to risks affecting essential services.

Basically: anything that, if disrupted, would seriously impact Australia.

Well, I'm not going to talk about the SOCI Act now, maybe in another post.

So… what’s next?

Hybrid warfare isn’t coming. It’s already here — just quieter than missiles and far less visible than tanks. It lives in our networks, our data, our infrastructure, and sometimes even in what we choose to believe.

Australia might feel far away from the battlefield, but in cyber terms, there is no “far away.” If you’re connected, you’re part of it.

A service outage. A spike in fuel prices. A data breach. A piece of misinformation that spreads just a little too well. None of these things scream “war” on their own — but together, they paint a very different picture.

The good news? We’re not powerless. Frameworks like the Essential Eight, legislation like the SOCI Act, and the work happening behind the scenes across government and industry are all part of building resilience. But technology alone isn’t enough.

Awareness is.

Because the next phase of warfare won’t always look like war.

And the real question isn’t just “what’s next?” — it’s:

Are we ready to recognize it when it happens?