19 October 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.

In Europe, German cyber and technology industries have warned the European Commission about the dangers of excessively free flowing open data. They have suggested that they need to find the right balance between encouraging an open market, and cyber protection. Failing to do so, they warn, could leave Europe vulnerable.

National Election day in Montenegro was hit by a number of cyber attacks. The attacks were DDOS based attacks and targeted a number of news outlets and telecoms groups. It is not clear who carried out the attacks or for what specific purpose.

A Tribunal investigating the British intelligence services has found that the mass collection of citizens personal data was illegal. The tribunal was considering activities for the past 17 years groups such as GCHQ, MI5 and MI6.

In the US, a lawsuit against the Government’s decision to handover ICAAN to an independent international agency has been dropped. The lawsuit was launched after the transition of the IANA contract. It was found that there was no legal basis for the attorney’s argument.

Hacked emails from Hilary Clinton, suggest that she was indifferent about President Obama’s net neutrality laws during his last election campaign in 2012. The email suggests that she was asked to make a positive comment, but gave a generally lukewarm response.

In an interview with ‘Meet the Press’, Vice President Joe Biden has suggested that the US will against against Russia over the cyber strike three months ago. He suggested that the operation would be covert, implying that the Government will pursue a counter cyber-attack, as opposed to sanctions.

In Singapore, the country’s cyber security agency will join forces with Palo Alto Networks. The project is part of a wider concerted effort in Singapore to do more to improve cyber security, and will include the sharing of threat intelligence, industry education, and national capability building. The news also comes in the same week that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loons made a speech on the need for greater cyber skills to enable better preparedness for future cyber attacks.

The Head of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policyinstitute, Dr Tobias Freakin, has warned that the country is at risk due to “cybercrime havens”. He warned that failing to address the problem would impact businesses.