Most people don't think about cybersecurity until it touches their daily lives. It's often reduced to a reminder from work about changing passwords or avoiding suspicious links. Yet cybersecurity is far broader than individual behavior. As Leslie Daigle, CTO of the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA), explains, "Cybersecurity is not just about what people do online, it's about how we protect the Internet itself."
The internet has become the backbone of modern society. We bank, communicate, learn, and conduct business online, trusting a global system that quietly keeps everything running. That system, however, is built on fragile interconnections. "You can't multifactor authenticate your way out of a route hijack," Daigle says. "No matter how careful individuals are, if the infrastructure is not secure, everyone is at risk."
She describes cybersecurity as a continuum, from personal habits to global policy, and argues that the foundation often receives the least attention. While awareness campaigns have helped individuals adopt stronger digital hygiene, the internet's underlying architecture still faces persistent threats that transcend borders. "A weakness in one corner of the world can quickly ripple across continents," she notes. "The internet doesn't respect national boundaries."
Daigle emphasizes a simple but telling experience while traveling abroad. She couldn't access her company's payroll system because the site blocked logins from Thai IP addresses. "It's a small inconvenience, but it highlights how fragmented the internet can become when inconsistent security or policy decisions collide," she says. These fractures, born from mismatched rules, outdated configurations, or conflicting regulations, slowly erode the openness and trust that made the internet transformative in the first place.
That erosion, Daigle believes, is a societal issue, not just a technical one. "Losing availability, consistency, and interoperability undermines both business and public confidence," she explains. "Cybersecurity is risk management for society."
Through its AIDE platform, GCA monitors attack traffic globally, collecting millions of data points that reveal how threats evolve. Among the more concerning findings, Daigle notes the rise of "unwitting attackers," networks that unknowingly host or transmit harmful traffic. "Many organizations simply don't know they are part of the problem," she says. "Visibility helps them become part of the solution."
One clear opportunity for improvement lies in routing security. Routing security approaches that leverage RPKI (Resource Public Key Infrastructure) ensure data travels only where it should. Without it, information can be intercepted or misdirected, sometimes accidentally, sometimes maliciously. Only about half of the world's networks use RPKI, resulting in about 74% of global traffic flowing to routes covered by RPKI ROAs (Route Origin Authorizations). This is because the larger networks that carry much of our Internet traffic are more likely to use RPKI. However, only around 27% of networks enforce RPKI by checking and blocking invalid routes. Daigle says, "Implementing better routing security practices is about protecting the fundamental plumbing of the Internet."
The challenge is not confined to private industry. As recent cyber incidents have shown, global infrastructure has become a strategic battleground. "We are seeing campaigns where the goal is not theft but disruption, undermining trust in the systems we depend on," she says. From supply-chain compromises to nation-state campaigns, the line between criminal activity and geopolitical influence is increasingly blurred.
She points to collaborative efforts like World IPv6 Launch and MANRS (Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security) as evidence that global coordination can succeed. These initiatives, built on voluntary cooperation, prove that progress is possible when governments, companies, and non-profits align around a shared mission. "When people realize they are protecting a common good, collaboration becomes the default," she says.
According to Daigle, collaboration must evolve from reactive defense to proactive prevention. "We have become good at responding to incidents," Daigle adds. "Real resilience means stopping malicious traffic from leaving networks in the first place." Achieving that requires not only technology but also education, policy alignment, and sustainable support for organizations working on the public's behalf.
For GCA, that work extends beyond tools. The non-profit provides resources that help businesses, non-profits, and individuals adopt best practices, often at no cost. Yet as Daigle acknowledges, the organizations doing this foundational work operate with limited funding. "Creating a safer internet is expensive," she says. "But the cost of inaction is far greater."
From individuals to network operators, from policymakers to businesses, protecting the internet requires a shared sense of duty. "If you are connected, you are responsible," Daigle says. "Preserving the internet's integrity is about safeguarding the trust and freedom that make the digital world possible."
ⓒ 2025 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
