Ransomware is a huge problem for small and medium businesses, and the most important question is this: should you pay the ransom? Ransomware has proven a successful revenue generator for criminals, which means the risk to businesses will grow as ransomware becomes more sophisticated and increasing numbers of ethically challenged criminals jump on the bandwagon. more
The new year is upon us and it's time for our annual look at CircleID's most popular posts of the past year and highlighting those that received the most attention. Congratulations to all the 2016 participants and best wishes to all in the new year. more
Two events, which made headlines in the digital world in 2016, will probably frame the Internet Governance Agenda for 2017. October 1, 2016, the US government confirmed the IANA Stewardship transition to the global multistakeholder community. November 2, 2016, the Chinese government announced the adoption of a new cybersecurity law which will enter into force on July 1, 2017. more
Today, this is how easily "TRUST" by your users/customers can be shattered, your revenues devastated, your share value plunged into the abyss, and your business destroyed. Furthermore, conventional thinking belongs only in university libraries, not in board rooms. It is time to seriously consider other innovative Out-Of-The-Box Solutions and doing things differently, or start writing your business obituary. more
Monetization of DDoS attacks has been core to online crime way before the term cybercrime was ever coined. For the first half of the Internet's life, DDoS was primarily a mechanism to extort money from targeted organizations. As with just about every Internet threat over time, it has evolved and broadened in scope and objectives. The new report by Forcepoint Security Labs covering their investigation of the Sledgehammer gamification of DDoS attacks is a beautiful example of that evolution. more
If, like me and my clients, you ever receive an email about a domain name expiration, proceed with great suspicion -- because many of these "notices" are a sham. They're designed to sell you services you don't need or to trick you into transferring your domain name to another registrar. Usually, the emails can safely be ignored. Here's an example: As shown, an important-looking email from "Domain Service" refers to a specific domain name in the subject line. more
Almost three years ago, I published a blog post on CircleID titled "Internet Governance: Why Africa Should Take the Lead." I argued that African Internet stakeholders use a 'wait and see approach' in matters as critical as Internet governance," and that African voices are missing in key Internet governance discussion fora. Additionally, I suggested that some reasons for this approach, including that Africa lacks well-trained Internet governance experts and Africans see foreign affairs and international relations as an East versus West dynamic. more
On the face of it, the answer is a rather obvious and simple "yes"! The Internet obviously works across borders. Technically, it is a global network servicing its users wherever they may be on the planet. But it is this very nature -- the fact that the Internet is not bound to a specific country or territory -- which has more and more people asking themselves whether it can really work across borders. more
Last week, millions of infected devices directed Internet traffic to DNS service provider Dyn, resulting in a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that took down major websites including Twitter, Amazon, Netflix, and more. In a recent blog post, security expert Bruce Schneier argued that "someone has been probing the defences of the companies that run critical pieces of the Internet". This attack seems to be part of that trend. This disruption begs the question: Can we trust the Internet? more
There is no doubt that the number of online consumers is on a rise and that this is a trend that will not stop any time soon. Over the last couple of years, the number of digital buyers has grown by a steady 150 million each year. This number is expected to stay stable for a few more years to come. By 2020, about two billion people will be purchasing things online and making online money transactions on a regular basis. more
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