Cyber stability faces growing pressure from geopolitical fragmentation, rapid technological change, and interconnected digital supply chains. Emerging technologies — AI, advanced automation, and quantum computing — are accelerating cyber capabilities, reshaping how vulnerabilities are discovered, defences are built, and operations conducted. Some compress decision timelines; others challenge foundational assumptions about encryption and systemic risk. As capabilities evolve, responsibilities across developers, deployers, infrastructure operators, and states become harder to delineate, and existing governance frameworks struggle to keep pace.
In 2026, the Geneva Dialogue stress-tests cybersecurity practices and agreed cyber norms under real-world conditions, bringing together policymakers, the private sector, technical communities, and civil society through a scenario-based engagement framework.
This masterclass is part of a series under the 2026 Geneva Dialogue work programme to stress-test cyber norms. It aims to establish a shared analytical baseline: how technological acceleration is reshaping capabilities and redistributing risk — and where existing governance approaches may fall short under conditions of systemic transformation.
It follows the first masterclass in the series, Shared Code, Shared Risk: How Are Security Responsibilities Allocated?, which examined security responsibilities in open-source software supply chains.
The session requires registration.
Its findings will directly inform the third chapter of the Geneva Manual on Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace.
