South East Finland is well-suited for studying information warfare, says Senior Researcher Niina Meriläinen

Meriläinen has long led multidisiplinary research projects and worked as a senior researcher at Tampere University. She is originally from Mikkeli, but lives in Tampere. In recent years, she has attended research exchanges and visits in, for example, the United States, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Portugal.

Meriläinen has also trained authorities and special forces soldiers in Ukraine about various topics: soldiers’ cognitive strengths and weaknesses during warfare, intelligence operations on the front lines, Russia’s information warfare and online disinformation, as well as the use of artificial intelligence as part of warfare.

Research on the information space and how it can be exploited

At Xamk, Meriläinen is interested in linking her previous fields of research to critical infrastructure and the digital environment, as well as examining how artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are exploited in information warfare.

– South East Finland is a distinctive region, where threats related to kinetic or cognitive warfare feel more concrete.

She points to the recent drone incidents as an example.

– In some instances South East Finland may appear to live in a different reality compared to Western Finland.

According to Meriläinen, the recent drone incidents in South East Finland show how Finnish authorities have failed to take control of the information space, creating an information vacuum that can be exploited by hostile actors.

In her view, the realities of warfare brought into Finland should be studied in South East Finland specifically.

At Xamk, these issues can be examined through concrete, real-world phenomena. All of this has an impact on people in the region, as well as on organizations and businesses.

Research topics linked to the region

At Xamk, Meriläinen’s research will explore ways to strengthen individuals, groups, and organizations’ abilities to protect themselves against different forms of warfare.

– Xamk has a great deal of expertise in digital and cybersecurity topics. Dialogue in combination with multidisciplinary research offers great arena to develop real-world solutions for people, organizations and companies.

At Xamk, Meriläinen also wants to study how hostile actors may attempt to create societal disruption by weakening critical infrastructure in the region. This could happen, for instance, by disrupting port operations, influencing elections, or turning people against each other.

I have studied, for example, cognitive and information warfare and intelligence activities targeting critical infrastructure actors. Is there a better example than the Port of Kotka?

– I have studied, for example, cognitive and information warfare and intelligence activities targeting critical infrastructure actors. Is there a better example than the Port of Kotka?

Meriläinen is currently starting to research how hostile actors can exploit an information vacuum that arises if authorities fail to take control of the information environment at both national and international levels.

– Xamk has strong expertise in digitalisation and cybersecurity. Through discussion and collaborative development, this research could gain international significance, she believes.

– In the Cybersecurity and Game Technology research unit, we have mainly focused on developing the capabilities of companies and organizations to counter technical cybersecurity threats, says Heidi Sjögren, director of the research unit.

– We have, however, also always been interested in various cognitive threats such as disinformation, deepfakes, or threats that influence human decision-making. Meriläinen brings exactly this much-needed expertise to our unit, and we will be able to leverage her knowledge and networks in many ways in our ongoing projects. We are also very much looking forward to new perspectives and research topics around which we can build broader research and development projects in the future.

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