6 July 2016

The following is summary of the most recent IEEE Global Internet Governance Monitor report. To access the full reports containing additional details and other news items, please join the Internet Technology Policy Community on IEEE Collabratec.

The following is summary of the most recent IEEE Global Internet Governance Monitor report. To access and download the full report containing additional details and other news items, click here.

An outline of this weeks ICT news is included below, with guidance for further action by IEEE at the end of this synopsis.

This week the EU has enacted several new policies of interest to IEEE, across all spheres of interest.

In terms of internet governance the EU Commission has moved to restrict the use of Bitcoin and virtual monetary exchange platforms as it attempts to clamp down on the funding of terrorist activities in the EU.

The EU Commission has also announced a new funding scheme for the EUs member states, with 1.8bn to be set aside to support cybersecurity improvements. 

The major announcement this week for Europe is that the EU-US privacy shield agreement will now be sent to the EUs member states for national legislatures to sign off on the agreement before it is formally adopted.

In the United States this week the Department for Homeland Security has pushed for a reorganisation of US cyber security, in the same week that the FBI has criticised the State Department for a lax security culture in the wake of their investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons email practices. 

A poll by software firm Spiceworks exploring cyber skills shortages has found that 55% of IT professionals in the US and UK lack access to cyber-security experts, with 71% saying that their companies do not employ an in house cyber-security expert. 

Finally the number of American health records believed to be available on the dark web have increased from 650,000 to a staggering 9.3 million. The records are believed to come from three stolen databases.

In China the new head of internet censoring has decreed that all news articles must now be verified by the state before they are allowed to be published online or via social media.

Major Telecoms operators in India have called upon the telecoms regulator TRAI to include websites and mobile handset producers in their net neutrality regulations. The operators signed a joint letter to TRAI as part of its consultation on introducing net neutrality regulations to India.

Also in China this week has come the announcement that all mobile apps will now have to store data on their users for at least 60 days in order to fit in with new state regulations. The government has also placed pressure on app companies to enforce a real names policy for its users.

Elsewhere in the world the South African government has joined Russia and China in opposing a UN resolution designed to instill the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet.

ICANN has moved closer to taking over control of the IANA numbering services as it has completed the signature of the Service Level Agreement with the regional internet registries.