China Temporarily Cuts Itself Off from the Global Internet

China briefly disconnected from much of the global internet for over an hour on Wednesday, following a disruption traced to the country's "Great Firewall." According to activist group Great Firewall Report, the outage began at 12:34 a.m. Beijing time and lasted until 1:48 a.m. on August 20. more

INTERPOL Leads Arrest of 1,209 Suspects in Pan-African Cybercrime Crackdown, Recovers $97 Million

Authorities across 18 African nations, aided by the United Kingdom and INTERPOL, have arrested 1,209 suspects and dismantled over 11,000 illicit cyber infrastructures. more

The CEO Is Not Who They Seem: Deepfakes Target Corporate Trust

A surge in AI-generated deepfake scams is reshaping the cybersecurity threat landscape, with fraudsters now impersonating company executives to deceive employees and siphon off millions. more

New gTLD Program’s Credibility Questioned Amid Weak Global Uptake

The credibility of ICANN's much-vaunted programme to expand internet domains is under strain. Governments and user representatives have warned that the Applicant Support Program (ASP) - a scheme offering fee discounts to poorer or non-profit applicants for new top-level domains (gTLDs) - is failing to reach its intended beneficiaries. more

Rethinking Europe’s Cloud Future: Balancing Regulation and Innovation

European efforts to build independent cloud infrastructure face challenges from regulatory overreach and dependence on U.S. cloud providers. Some say that a balanced approach focused on collaboration and flexible standards will be needed to strengthen data sovereignty and foster regional growth. Eighty percent of corporate executives in Germany say that Europe's future prosperity will depend on secure and independent digital infrastructure. more

Converging Technologies Create New Cyber Threats, UK Government Warns

As digital technologies intertwine ever more closely, new vulnerabilities are surfacing in unexpected places. A recent UK government report highlights how the convergence of emerging technologies - such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, quantum computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) - is generating complex cybersecurity risks across critical sectors. more

Why Businesses Aren’t Hanging Up Landlines Yet

There was a recent article in the Wall Street Journal that noted that the business world still uses a lot of landline telephones. Landline telephones have been steadily disappearing from homes, but are still not gone. I see ISPs still selling a telephone line to 10% or more of passings, and surveys show that the average residential landline penetration rate is still somewhere between 15% and 20%. more

Learning from History: The Potsdam Call on Autonomous Weapon Systems

Eighty years ago, in August 1945, the world saw hope and horror. On August 1, 1945, just weeks after the adoption of the UN Charter, the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union signed the Potsdam Agreement, which produced hope for a peaceful post-war world. Only some days later, the world saw the horror of nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A cold war followed. more

AI in Academia: Tool or Trap? Balancing Innovation and Intellectual Honesty in the Digital Age

AI has revolutionized how we process information, optimize tasks, and conduct research. However, its integration into academia sparks ethical and practical debates. Should we limit its use? How can we assess a student's true knowledge if they employ these tools? This text explores these questions from the perspective of a technology expert who argues that banning AI is as absurd as rejecting calculators or spreadsheets in the past. more

The Latest DNS Threat Landscape: Why CISOs Must Rethink Blocking Strategies

Cybercriminals live by the tenet "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." They'll use the same tactics repeatedly until they no longer work, then switch things up. That's why CISOs and their security teams maintain constant vigilance. Underscoring this, recent analysis of global DNS activity found that new domains continue to be a major tactic for bad actors. more

The IPv6 Divide: How Slow Adoption Creates Digital Vulnerabilities and Economic Inequality

The shift to IPv6 has escalated into a matter of national security, as nations lagging in adoption are increasingly exposed to cyber threats and diminished control over their digital infrastructure due to the limited availability of IPv4. With IPv6-only environments becoming more common, reliance on IPv4 may lead to slower connectivity, deepening the digital divide and potentially worsening economic disparities. In this geopolitical landscape, moving to IPv6 serves as a critical step toward maintaining digital independence. more

WSIS+20 and the Youth Dilemma: Rethinking Participation in Global Internet Governance

On Wednesday, 9 July, I attended the WSIS+20 HLE Overall Review multistakeholder consultation with co-facilitators H.E. Mr Ekitela Locale from the Republic of Kenya, and H.E. Ms Suela Janina from the Republic of Albania with my UNU-CRIS hat and had the opportunity to talk with them together with my fellow youth IGF colleagues Dana Cramer and Jasmine Ko. We discussed youth participation in Internet governance, and I raised my concerns about the future of youth IGFs. more

Mauritius Steps In: Unraveling the AFRINIC Crisis and Its Impact on African Internet Governance

A Supreme Court judge in Mauritius has been appointed to investigate AFRINIC, Africa's IP address registry, following allegations of misconduct, legal irregularities, and criminal falsification. The inquiry marks a pivotal moment in African internet governance, with implications for regional digital infrastructure and the continent's credibility in managing critical online resources. more

The Commonest Domain Features: Constructing Look-Up Tables for Use as Part of a Domain Risk Scoring System

Many previous pieces of research have focused on the desirability of a comprehensive scoring system, to be used for ranking results identified as part of a brand-protection solution, according to their potential level of threat. Such scoring systems offer the capability for identifying prioritised targets for further analysis, content tracking or enforcement actions. more

ICANN Warns of Governance Crisis at AFRINIC Amid Allegations and Legal Challenges

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has issued a stern open letter to the Government of Mauritius and the court-appointed receiver of AFRINIC, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa and the Indian Ocean. The letter, dated July 16th, expresses grave concern over AFRINIC’s governance failures, opaque election practices, and recent attempts by a controversial resource member to dissolve the organization. more