ACIG

🚨 New article now available online!

One of the negative consequences of recent rapid development in the field of #LLM technology is that every component of automated troll farms can now be run on consumer-grade hardware. As @LukaszOlejnik@mastodon.social notes in the newly published paper “Artificial Intelligence Propaganda Factories with Language Models,” this puts conducting AI-driven influence operations within the reach of multiple actors. #AI propaganda enables numerous smaller perpetrators to run their own campaigns and multiplies the capacities of state-level and corporate entities.
However, the presented analysis suggests that the very consistency of AI propaganda bots might yield itself to statistical detection. Such a marker could serve as a signal for platforms and institutions to disrupt those campaigns.
Read the whole paper: https://www.acigjournal.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Propaganda-Factories-with-Language-Models,215416,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#propaganda #disinformation

On December 29th of the previous year Polish energy infrastructure suffered a coordinated cyberattack. According to the recently published report by CERT Polska (English version available at: https://cert.pl/uploads/docs/CERT_Polska_Energy_Sector_Incident_Report_2025.pdf), the perpetuators had been preparing the security breach for months and had one single objective of causing as much damage as possible. The attackers’ communication patterns were found to be characteristic of a malicious activity cluster known as “Static Tundra,” “Berserk Bear,” “Ghost Blizzard,” and “Dragonfly.” As the report notes, “this is the first publicly described destructive activity attributed to this cluster.”

We find this #cyberFriday to be an appropriate moment to remind you of a paper from our 2023 special issue on the Russian-Ukrainian war, “Cyberwarfare against Critical Infrastructures: Russia and Iran in the Gray Zone” by Guillermo Lopez-Rodriguez, Irais Moreno-Lopez, and José-Carlos Hernández-Gutiérrez. Read it online on our website: https://www.acigjournal.com/Cyberwarfare-against-Critical-Infrastructures-Russia-and-Iran-in-the-Gray-Zone,184301,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute.

#cybersecurity #cyberWarfare #cert #infrastructure

🚨 New article now available online!

Moderately-sized businesses might be as much at risk of cyberattacks as their bigger competitors, but they often lack founding, expertise, and procedures needed to protect themselves efficiently. In their paper “A Grounded Theory of SME Resilience in Network Information Security” Kennedy Njenga and Yitong He present results of their qualitative research conducted among South African network security practitioners and offer strategies to improve cybersecurity in resource-limited small and medium-sized enterprises.
https://www.acigjournal.com/A-Grounded-Theory-of-SME-Resilience-in-Network-Information-Security,215056,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#cybersecurity #enterprise #resilience

A few figures showing where ACIG is right now, as we are looking forward to face this year’s challenges.

Our 2025 issue consisted of 15 articles written by 34 authors from 12 countries.
Including the work of previous years, so far ACIG has cooperated with:
👉 136 authors
👉 183 reviewers
👉 representing scientific community of 45 countries on 5 continents.

We are proud to platform so many voices representing various perspectives and fields. Thank you to all researchers who have trusted us with their work, and to all reviewers, whose careful assessment of the submitted manuscripts enables us to uphold the highest standards of scientific publishing.

The first article to be included in the next volume is already online and further papers are on their way, currently undergoing final revisions. We are determined to keep communication with authors effective and to facilitate scientific discussion in the face of rapid changes in the world of #cybersecurity.

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute.

📢 Call for Papers

Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance – an #openAccess, peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to multidisciplinary research on #cybersecurity – is now accepting submissions for the 2026 issue.

Cybersecurity is undergoing rapid transformation.
Autonomous AI systems are evolving.
Generative models are scaling.
Attack techniques are adapting.
Post-quantum threats are emerging.
Researchers must respond.

Join a high-impact platform shaping security studies in the age of intelligent systems.
We welcome manuscripts addressing technical, legal, political, and social aspects of digitalisation, #networkSecurity, #privacy, #AI, and #cyberWarfare. Author guidelines are available at: https://www.acigjournal.com/For-Authors,4555.html.
All submissions undergo double-blind peer review, revision, and resubmission. Accepted articles are published open access, free of charge, and without delay. ACIG is indexed in leading scientific databases and citation lists, including Scopus.

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute.

As the ACIG’s editorial team is wrapping up the 2025 issue, this #cyberfriday we invite you to revisit the article “The Role of Cybersecurity in Addressing Express Kidnappings: Challenges and Innovative Solutions” by Khutso Lebea, Sherali Zeadally, and Aditya Sood. This piece of research was published online first and it is the first of the articles that will make up the fifth volume of ACIG.

The article discusses express kidnappings – a type of crime on the rise in many parts of the world. Their perpetuators capture their victims for a relatively short period of time and force them to withdraw big amounts of cash from ATMs or make transfers from their bank accounts. The authors argue that a robust and integrated system of #cybersecurity measures is essential to counter this kind of abuse.

Read it online at https://www.acigjournal.com/The-Role-of-Cybersecurity-in-Addressing-Express-Kidnappings-Challenges-and-Innovative,210222,0,2.html

🚨 New article now available online!

As new attack strategies emerge, network intrusion detection systems are subject to increasing pressure. Accurate classification of potential threats requires both adequate analysis of complex data sets and effective utilisation of computational resources available.
Researchers Akanksha Pamena and Manohar Naik Sugali propose an approach combining deep learning for dimensionality reduction with attention modules: SAE-AM. Their solution proves highly effective, reaching 99% accuracy on benchmark datasets. Read the latest article on our website, “SAE-AM: Enhancing Network Intrusion Detection Using Sparse Autoencoders with Attention Modules” and learn more about their method.
https://www.acigjournal.com/SAE-AM-Enhancing-Network-Intrusion-Detection-Using-Sparse-Autoencoders-with-Attention,213872,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#cybersecurity #machineLearning #networkSecurity #intrusionDetection #machineLearning #deepLearning

🚨 New article now available online!

Managing large quantities of information is a challenge that has to be addressed in many areas of modern economy, including those relatively removed from the IT field. As the research shows, the construction industry often lags behind the other sectors in terms of data protection and organisation.
Ornella Tanga Tambwe, Clinton Ohis Aigbavboa, Opeoluwa Israel Akinradewo, and Seyi Segun Stephen offer a case study in the current state of the field. In their paper “The Impact of Data Governance on Data Management in the South African Construction Industry,” they present results of a survey conducted among professionals from the South African capital province of Gauteng along with their implications for further decision making.
Learn more about their findings and analysis: https://www.acigjournal.com/The-Impact-of-Data-Governance-on-Data-Management-in-the-South-African-Construction,213473,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#construction #constructionIndustry #dataProtection #dataManagement #dataGovernance

Esteemed readers of ACIG,

as the winter holiday season unfolds, the whole Editorial Team would like to wish you a time of peaceful rest and regeneration, as well as all the best for the coming year. Stay cyber-safe and see you soon in 2026!

🚨 New article now available online!

It is clear by now that generative artificial intelligence is changing the way information is disseminated and received. Sadly, it has been found a useful tool by perpetuators of disinformation and spreaders of malicious narratives destabilizing trust in public institutions. Muhammad Sajid Khan approaches the problem from the social cybersecurity standpoint and proposes a framework for identifying and neutralizing this kind of threats: STRIDE ¬– Social Threat Resilience through Integrated Detection and Engagement.
Read his paper “Social Cybersecurity as Digital Resilience: The STRIDE Framework for Countering AI-Driven Information Manipulation” on our website: https://www.acigjournal.com/Social-Cybersecurity-as-Digital-Resilience-The-STRIDE-Framework-for-Countering-AI,213864,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #disinformation #socialCybersecurity

🚨 New article now available online!

Energy transition of an entity so complex and populous as the European Union cannot be reduced to its purely technical aspects. Interplay of economic and national interests, societal attitudes, and narratives demands an analysis from the political sciences and sociology standpoint. In terms of security, it must be noted that this process is a potential and actual goal of disinformation campaigns and cognitive warfare, carried out both by state actors and corporate entities, such as fossil fuel companies.
In his paper “Cognitive Warfare, Disinformation, and Corporate Influence in Europe’s Energy Transition: Information Control, Regulation, and Human Rights Implications” Marco Marsili provides an analysis of techniques and vectors of cognitive influence, and case studies of disinformation campaigns. He goes on to assess the current defence mechanisms of the EU and present recommendations for the improvement of its “cognitive resilience.”
Read the whole article on our website: https://www.acigjournal.com/Cognitive-Warfare-Disinformation-and-Corporate-Influence-in-Europe-s-Energy-nTransition,214045,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#energyTransition #EU #disinformation #cognitiveWarfare #hybridWarfare

🚨 New article now available online!

Modern infrastructure is dependent on many diverse service providers, whose individual vulnerabilities contribute to the risk model of the target systems. Adding artificial intelligence to the equation only complicates the issue further. Yet the critical services need a high level of resilience and standard compliance. In their paper “Supply Chain Security and AI Risk Governance Model for Critical Infrastructure under NIS2, CER, and CRA” Natalija Parlov, Gordan Akrap, and Josip Esterhajer provide an analysis of multiple security standards and present measures for assessment and systemic improvement of infrastructural resilience.
Read it on our website: https://www.acigjournal.com/Supply-Chain-Security-and-AI-Risk-Governance-Model-for-Critical-Infrastructure-under,211823,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#cybersecurity #supplyChain #supplyChainSecurity #riskManagement #AISecurity

🚨 New article now available online!

The field of #DevSecOps framework development, aiming to incorporate insights from psychology and social sciences into the process of software creation, is still a new one. In their paper “Challenges in DevSecOps Decision-Making amid a Dearth of Valid Frameworks” Francesco Maria Ferazza and Konstantinos Mersinas argue that there are still no widely accepted robust strategies. The researchers analyse existing frameworks in light of decision theory and note that the current situation in the area presents an opportunity for real-life observation of subsequent adaptations.
Read the article online at https://www.acigjournal.com/Challenges-in-DevSecOps-Decision-Making-amid-a-Dearth-of-Valid-Frameworks,213726,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#cybersecurity #softwareDevelopment #devOps

This #cyberFriday we would like to remind you of an article offering insights into the methodology of #cybersecurity data gathering and its cross-national comparison for sake of informed policy-making. Come back to “Structured Field Coding and its Applications to National Risk and Cybersecurity Assessments” by William H. Dutton, Ruth Shillair, Louise Axon, and Carolin Weisser.
As always available on our website: https://www.acigjournal.com/Structured-Field-Coding-and-its-Applications-to-National-Risk-and-Cybersecurity-Assessments,184303,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute

🚨 New article now available online!

More digital technologies bring greater convenience and efficiency, but also expand the attack surface and increase security risks. In the light of this, EU’S #CyberResilienceAct introduces requirements pertaining to vulnerability disclosure and mitigation. Jukka Ruohonen and Paul Timmers examine the act’s details and sketch out the directions for future research.
Read their paper “Vulnerability Coordination under the Cyber Resilience Act,” now available at https://www.acigjournal.com/Vulnerability-Coordination-under-the-Cyber-Resilience-Act,213350,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute

#cybersecurity #vulnerability #cra

🚨 New article now available online!

Today, more than at any previous point in history, traditional warfare is being combined with non-kinetic threats, such as broadly conceived attacks on the state’s information security. Appropriate defence mechanisms require institutional cooperation and adaptability. Emir Muhić, in his new paper “Transforming the Intelligence Cycle through Adapting to Complex Environments and the Operational Dynamics of Special Warfare,” reviews the existing approaches and develops a model presenting how intelligence processes can evolve to meet the realities of modern hybrid and special warfare.
Read the article at https://www.acigjournal.com/Transforming-the-Intelligence-Cycle-through-Adapting-to-Complex-Environments-and,211788,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute

This #cyberFriday is the time to recommend you one of the insightful articles from our archive.

Honeypots are often employed by cybersecurity teams to gain insights into possible attack scenarios. But both sides in this scenario are acting with limited knowledge. Thus a way to model the probability of various outcomes is highly useful.
In their paper “Predictive Modelling of a Honeypot System Based on a Markov Decision Process and a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process” Lidong Wang, Reed Mosher, Patti Duett, and Terril Falls provide a mathematical analysis of interactions with networks of this kind. Learn more about their results: https://www.acigjournal.com/Predictive-Modelling-of-a-Honeypot-System-Based-on-a-Markov-Decision-Process-and,184296,0,2.html#idm66

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#cybersecurity #honeypot

This #cyberFriday, to conclude the #EuropeanCybersecurityMonth we recommend you the latest report by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity. This year’s edition of the ENISA Threat Landscape analysis sketches out current trends, highlights the most frequent and severe threats to the European #cybersecurity and identifies the most targeted sectors.
Find it at https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/enisa-threat-landscape-2025.

#ECSM #CyberSecMonth

🚨 New article now available online!

As the newly published paper “Information Sovereignty under Fire: Legal Challenges for Ukraine” by Irina Aristova et al. notes, in the digitalised, interconnected world, state #cybersecurity is as important a factor for national defence as traditional military capabilities. The authors address the sovereignty aspect of regulations pertaining to information security in Ukraine, critically assessing the current division of responsibilities and compliance with international standards. They conclude that the formulation of a coherent National Strategy of Information Sovereignty is necessary.
Read their analysis at https://www.acigjournal.com/Information-Sovereignty-under-Fire-Legal-Challenges-for-Ukraine,209993,0,2.html#S1

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute

🚨 New article now available online!

Inda Kreso’s new publication, “Cyber Threats and Vulnerability Mapping in the Energy Sector: Laying the Groundwork for Smart Grid Resilience” identifies the most critical cyber threats and vulnerabilities within the energy sector and provides the first comprehensive mapping between them. The findings of this research provide a practical foundation for aligning cybersecurity practices with existing frameworks such as NIS2 and NERC CIP.
Read the entire paper at: https://www.acigjournal.com/Cyber-Threats-and-Vulnerability-Mapping-in-the-Energy-Sector-Laying-the-Groundwork,211124,0,2.html.

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute

🚨 New article now available online!

Increasing complexity of modern cyberspace, with all of its risks and vulnerabilities, requires more than just isolated amendments. Developing holistic approaches and efficient frameworks is an urgent necessity. The widespread push for the use of AI in many new areas makes the ability to ask the right questions especially indispensable. Jasper Uyi Egbobamwonyi-Bedaux does just that in his paper “Problematisation Analytics: New Foucauldian Direction in Theory and Method for Cybersecurity and AI Governance Research,” providing a way of understanding the interplay of various factors contributing to the current #cybersecurity picture.
Read the article at our website: https://www.acigjournal.com/Improving-Threat-Detection-in-Information-Security-with-Ensemble-Learning,210525,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute

🚨 New article now available online!

The evolving landscape of #cybersecurity threats demands new, robust methods of automatic breach detection. In their paper “Improving Threat Detection in Information Security with Ensemble Learning” Ahmad Sanmorino, Rendra Gustriansyah, Shinta Puspasari, and Fauziah Afriyani demonstrate how combining multiple machine learning algorithms may result in greater precision of cyberattack classification.
Read the article and learn more about their approach at our website: https://www.acigjournal.com/Improving-Threat-Detection-in-Information-Security-with-Ensemble-Learning,210525,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute

🚨 New article now available online!

Express kidnappings are a type of crime on the rise in many parts of the world. Their perpetuators capture their victims for a relatively short period of time and force them to withdraw big amounts of cash or make transfers from their bank accounts.
In their paper “The Role of Cybersecurity in Addressing Express Kidnappings: Challenges and Innovative Solutions” Khutso Lebea, Sherali Zeadally and Aditya Sood argue that a robust and integrated system of #cybersecurity measures is essential to counter this kind of abuse.
Read their analysis on our website: https://www.acigjournal.com/The-Role-of-Cybersecurity-in-Addressing-Express-Kidnappings-Challenges-and-Innovative,210222,0,2.html

🌐 Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute

🔐 Long, unique, avoiding common patterns… Do you follow the rules of making a strong password? And do people with similar background do?
📝 On the occasion of the European #CyberSecMonth we would like to remind you of the insightful analysis by Andreanne Bergeron. In her paper “Tell Me Where You Live and I Will Tell Your P@Ssw0rd: Understanding the Macrosocial Variables Influencing Password’s Strength” she explores how factors such as literacy or government accountability correlate with cybersecurity habits of the broad population. Read it online on our website: https://www.acigjournal.com/Tell-Me-Where-You-Live-and-I-Will-Tell-Your-P-Ssw0rd-Understanding-the-Macrosocial,184304,0,2.html

🌐Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance (#ACIG) is published by #NASK – National Research Institute
#cybersecurity #passwordStrength #ECSM

📝 In this week’s post we would like to remind you about the fantastic work of Kovid Tiwari, Ajay Kumar Phulre, Devraj Vishnu and Saravanan D. In their in-depth article “Enhancing Secure Key Management Techniques for Optimised 5G Network Slicing Security,” the researchers provide an exhaustive review of the state of research on transmission security in systems utilizing 5G networks and present detailed assessment of the proposed cryptographic model.
👉 We encourage you to read their paper at our webpage: https://www.acigjournal.com/Enhancing-Secure-Key-Management-Techniques-for-Optimised-5G-Network-Slicing-Security,199725,0,2.html.

This #CyberFriday we highlight the article "Redefining Systemic Cybersecurity Risk in Interconnected Environments" by Giacomo Assenza, Alessandro Ortalda, and Roberto Setola.
The authors review events that reveal systemic dynamics, evaluate tools for managing systemic risk, and emphasize that such risk is shared—demanding common understanding for coordinated mitigation.

Recommended read: Redefining Systemic Cybersecurity Risk in Interconnected Environments: https://www.acigjournal.com/Redefining-Systemic-Cybersecurity-Risk-in-Interconnected-Environments,192119,0,2.html

#riskassessment #riskmanagement #cybersecurity