Cybersecurity in Community Networks: Securing the Commons

Official Outcome of the UN IGF Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity

The authors of this book are (in alphabetical order): Luca Belli, Sarbani Belur, Felix Freitag, Senka Hadzic, Suruchi Kumari, Osama Manzar, Leandro Navarro, Ritu Srivastava, and Bruna Zanolli.

This book is the Official 2024 Outcome of the Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity (DC3) of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF). DC3 is a multistakeholder group, fostering a collaborative analysis of community networks (CNs), exploring how such initiatives can improve and expand connectivity while empowering Internet users.

Community Networks (CNs) are connectivity initiatives managed according to the governance models established by their community members, in a democratic fashion, and may be operated by groups of self-organised individuals or entities such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), local businesses or public administrations. This report explores some of the cybersecurity challenges inherent in Community Networks and what strategies could be implemented to successfully face them. It explores the potential data privacy issues, technological limitations, and the need for incident response capabilities and robust cybersecurity governance. To enhance resilience against cyber threats, the report advocates for a proactive and collaborative approach, highlighting the importance of cybersecurity awareness, training, and investment in security infrastructure. Ultimately, we emphasise that safeguarding the cybersecurity of CN user and assets is crucial for their sustainability and continued growth, ensuring they can continue to provide reliable and secure connectivity.

CNs should not be considered as a competing or antagonistic model either to the state or to the market. On the contrary, they should be seen as a powerful complementary solution to fill the existing connectivity gaps.