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content/blog/2022/03/post-3/index.md

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+---
+title: Can a 'Democratized' Internet exist in times of a Cyber War?
+description: With cyber sovereignty turning into a non-territorial challenge to sovereignty itself irrespective of the virtual realm of the internet, is there a way out for humanity?
+date: 2022-03-03
+updated: 2022-03-03
+draft: false
+taxonomies:
+  categories: [foundation]
+  categories: [peer_to_peer,data,why,technology]
+    
+extra:
+  subtitle: ""
+  author: Sam Taggart
+  authorImg: /images/people/sacha_obeegadoo.jpg
+  imgPath: images/blog/cyberwar.png
+  date: 2022-03-03
+---
+
+On February 24 2022, Russia launched a large-scale military invasion and attack on Ukraine. In the days since the invasion began, the war has been fought not only on the ground and in the air, but also in the digital realm.
+
+<br/>
+
+Cyber warfare is nothing new, especially in Russia and Eastern Europe. “In the relatively short and rapidly evolving history of cyber conflict, perhaps nothing has been established with greater certainty and more widely accepted than the idea that Russia has significant cyber capabilities and isn’t afraid to use them,” [writes Josephine Wolff](https://time.com/6153902/russia-major-cyber-attacks-invasion-ukraine/), associate professor of cybersecurity policy at Tufts University. “Especially on Ukraine.”
+
+<br/>
+
+Leading up to the invasion, Ukraine experienced a series of cyberattacks on its critical infrastructures, including banks and government agencies. On February 23 2022, just a day before the launch of Russia’s military attack, websites of the Ukrainian parliament and multiple government agencies were put out of work. Similar cyber attacks had also been seen in early February and [were attributed to GRU](https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/02/23/will-war-in-ukraine-lead-to-a-wider-cyber-conflict?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=babbage&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners), Russia’s military-intelligence agency. And Ukrainian cities continue to suffer from [internet blackouts](https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2022/02/26/ukrainian-cities-are-suffering-internet-blackouts?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=babbage&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners). On Sunday, Ukraine’s vice president even called for tech specialists and hackers to join the “cyber front.” While the predictions of a Russian “cyber onslaught” have not necessarily come true yet, both sides have engaged in cyber attacks on visible and invisible levels.
+
+## A Rise in State-Sponsored Cyber Attacks Globally
+
+Digital or cyber warfare does not just apply to Russia and Ukraine. Broadly, cybersecurity experts have been raising concerns in recent years amid a sharp rise in ransomware and other types of digital attacks globally.
+
+<br/>
+
+Adam Meyers, Senior Vice President of Intelligence at the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike [said](https://www.marketplace.org/2022/02/24/cybersecurity-to-take-center-stage-as-conflict-continues-in-ukraine/): “Just in the last year, I think we’ve seen over 2,700 big-game hunting attacks [cyberattacks that target high-value data]. So they’re far and away that most prevalent actor. Nation-state actors are continuously operating as well, but they tend to operate a little bit more under the radar. They don’t conduct as many widespread and widely known attacks. They try to, obviously, steal information without it being identified that they’ve stolen it.”
+
+<br/>
+
+Nevertheless, these are just the most current examples – Russia is hardly the only country engaging in cyber warfare at a larger scale. In fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult for governments, corporations and organizations to protect themselves against cyber attacks, especially against [state-sponsored attacks](https://www.economist.com/business/2022/02/19/companies-have-a-lot-to-fear-from-russias-digital-warmongering?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=babbage&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners). And in the digital space, the best and most dangerous hacks are those that go unnoticed until it’s too late.
+
+## Some Governments are Sectioning Off the Internet Through Digital Borders
+
+A set of countries like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran have certain [aspirations for the internet](https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/global-rise-internet-sovereignty/). Domestically, these countries want control and think governments should get to decide what information flows across their borders. Globally, they want governments, not companies and NGOs, to be in charge of the internet. While some may say that government-owned internet infrastructures would be the only way to protect a country’s sovereignty, it goes without saying that what once was a neutral space for humanity to connect and exchange information is turning into a political schema.
+
+<br/>
+
+Taken together, these goals are an attempt to align cyberspace with national borders, so they are sometimes dubbed the [“cyber sovereignty” doctrine](https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/global-rise-internet-sovereignty/). The term comes from China, whose internet censorship system, called the Great Firewall, is the vanguard of the global cyber-sovereignty push. China’s cyberspace agency released a much-ridiculed musical ode to cybersecurity under Lu Wei’s leadership, which included the line: “A cyberpower: Where the Internet is, so is the glorious dream.”
+
+<br/>
+
+The vision of effective cyber-sovereignty is expanding to new horizons. A November [report](https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/global-rise-internet-sovereignty/) from Freedom House examined 65 countries and found since the previous year that internet freedom declined in 26 of them. Chinese-style “digital authoritarianism,” meanwhile, is growing in influence as China exports both its surveillance known-how and technology.
+
+<br/>
+
+The problem here is that digital sovereignty is a major concept that not only addresses the issues of communication and connection but also the impact on societies and culture at large. With cyber sovereignty turning into a non-territorial challenge to sovereignty itself irrespective of the virtual realm of the internet, is there a way out for humanity?
+
+## A Free and Sovereign Cyber Space is Needed
+
+It is evident that the current internet is facing some big challenges that have major implications for humanity. Data privacy and self-sovereignty is almost impossible today, raising serious questions towards those that control the Internet. But it also seems that these companies fell into the trap of their own business models and algorithms.
+
+<br/>
+
+When taking a step back, the world seems just a few years away from the Matrix, as depicted by the Wachowskis.
+
+<br/>
+
+The Internet is playing an incredibly important role for the most powerful intelligence companies. As depicted by Meyers, we wouldn’t even notice that our information is being stolen all the time to benefit the greed of powerful geo-political actors. The internet is not a public good anymore, and unless humanity reacts fast, it may be that the world will lose all forms of freedom or sovereignty.
+
+<br/>
+
+[“A declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”](https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence) by John Perry Barlow once attempted to shed light on the applicability of government and institutions on the rapidly growing internet, already in 1996 trying to protect its neutrality. According to research, the world is experiencing innovation at an increasingly rapid pace. With the rise of blockchains and web3 technology, could the dream of John Perry Barlow turn into reality?
+
+## So, What is the Solution?
+
+In a world aching for more decentralization and less dependence on governments and corporations, new decentralized and peer-to-peer models are already proving to be more resilient and secure. New Internet infrastructure companies such as ThreeFold have successfully built peer-to-peer internet infrastructures that are more resilient than the current centralized model. On such systems, people and enterprises can store their data and run their applications on a distributed network of computers in such a way that their data cannot be corrupted. ThreeFold even created a so-called “quantum safe” storage that guarantees that even the most powerful computers in the world wouldn’t be able to reconstruct user data.
+
+<br/>
+
+The escalation of this cyber conflict can lead to unforeseen consequences and casualties. That is why it is especially important that our industry works together to protect customers, partner, employees and citizens. ThreeFold is on a mission to realize the promise of a fully-comprehensive, open-source and peer-to-peer internet infrastructure. ThreeFold is a platform for the creators of tomorrow to build that blueprint of responsibility and ensure that the outcome of future systems is neutrality.
+
+<Br/>
+
+Join ThreeFold in building the new internet.

content/blog/2022/03/post-4/index.md

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+---
+title: Peer-to-Peer Overcomes Web3 Challenges
+description: The promise of Web3 is tremendous, but there are clear limitations to overcome. How? Peer-to-peer systems and blockchains, side by side. The best of both worlds.
+date: 2022-03-09
+updated: 2022-03-09
+draft: false
+taxonomies:
+  categories: [foundation]
+  categories: [peer_to_peer,why,farming,threefold_grid]
+    
+extra:
+  subtitle: ""
+  author: Sam Taggart
+  authorImg: /images/people/sam_taggart.jpg
+  imgPath: images/blog/p2p_web3.png
+  date: 2022-03-09
+---
+
+First coined in 2014, Web3 is now one of the hottest and overused buzzwords in the digital space – the idea of a new iteration of the web, a decentralized environment based on blockchain technology that incorporates token-based economics. The promise of Web3 – decentralization of control and authority from big tech, data security, scalability, and privacy for users – is tremendous. But what is a promise without delivery? Is it possible that we will see major adoption soon?
+
+<br/>
+
+Similar to the [enterprise blockchain hype](https://thenewstack.io/as-blockchain-hype-fades-developers-give-ethereum-a-serious-look/) that happened a few years ago, Web3 seems to be repeating the same story, with lots of chatter but lagging adoption. Millions have rushed to trade crypto and NFTs attached to Web3 – with a lot of this activity based on speculation and hype – but that doesn’t mean they will replace legacy platforms anytime soon. New approaches such as DeFi (decentralized finance) don’t have the same problem of the legacy firms, but they face the challenge of scaling and mass adoption. However, many so-called ‘Web3’ solutions are not as decentralized as they seem, and still have to show they are scalable, secure and accessible enough for the mass market. This all may change, but there are clear limitations that will need to be overcome.
+
+<br/>
+
+Whether Web3 is a marketing slogan or a true technological trend, there is a lot of money and technology behind it. Financial institutions are embracing blockchain technology and we are seeing a rising adoption of digital assets across industries. While the idea of utilizing digital currencies to exchange different forms of value in an increasingly digital world certainly makes sense, it’s a bigger leap to say that blockchain alone can support a broad set of use cases, including replacing the current Internet infrastructure.
+
+<br/>
+
+The Internet’s client-server infrastructure replicates data and workloads across many computers, and uses tons of computing resources and energy while limiting the scalability of our applications. However, the clear inefficiencies and gaps in security in today’s centralized infrastructures are being challenged by simpler means of building, storing and exchanging data.
+
+<br/>
+
+Blockchain is a clear evolution to the centralized client-server model, but there are severe challenges sourced from the [blockchain trilemma](https://medium.com/certik/the-blockchain-trilemma-decentralized-scalable-and-secure-e9d8c41a87b3) between decentralization, scalability and security. Peer-to-peer systems transcend those challenges as they don’t require any valid2ation or verification from a third party, and enable end-to-end connections that can scale limitlessly without the potential of being altered or corrupted by intermediaries. In peer-to-peer systems, all participants are equally privileged, presenting a fairer model. Peer-to-peer represents an incredibly simple and efficient paradigm for organizing our digital world, and has already proven to be the most efficient alternative to centralized information systems.
+
+<br/>
+
+Simply put, there is no reason to replicate full sets of data and workloads across many computers, and use tons of computing resources and energy while limiting the scalability of our applications. While there is an increasing reliance on blockchain principles to organize our Internet systems, blockchain also makes things redundant, slow, complex and energy intensive. To be clear, blockchain isn’t the problem, as it is a great technology to store and exchange value in a decentralized way, but it is only one piece of the puzzle.
+
+<br/>
+
+By inter-connecting the computing processing power and storage capacity of billions of computers worldwide in a peer-to-peer way, data transfers could happen end-to-end between people and machines without the need to be verified. Peer-to-peer is also the only way to achieve a truly self-sovereign Internet – creating a ‘trustful’ environment that allows users and developers to have real data ownership.
+
+<br/>
+
+Peer-to-peer systems aren’t meant to replace blockchains – they represent a way to decentralize models that blockchain cannot, such as Internet infrastructures. Peer-to-peer systems and blockchains, side by side. The best of both worlds. Peer-to-peer as the most efficient and decentralized alternative for us to exchange data and Internet resources. And blockchain for establishing trust through an irrefutable record of transactions.
+
+<br/>
+
+With the rise of emerging technologies, a new technological foundation is needed to protect our sovereignty and freedom. The rise of blockchains, while well intended, ultimately has made the technological space more complex than ever before, and still benefits a plutocratic few (relative to its promise). More than just technology, peer-to-peer opens a world of new possibilities for humanity to co-initiate new paradigms and experiences.
+
+<br/>
+
+By applying blockchain and peer-to-peer technology to the cloud, ThreeFold solves the security and autonomy issues of the Internet and realizes the initial promise of the Internet as an open-source, peer-to-peer, planetary mesh network of nodes owned by the people.
+
+<br/>
+
+Support the realization of a peer-to-peer Internet owned by the people today:
+
+<br/>
+
+- [Get TFT](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__how_to_buy), the currency of the peer-to-peer Internet.
+- [Connect a computer](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_intro) to the peer-to-peer Internet and earn monthly rewards.
+- [Build applications](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#//manual__manual3_home_new) on the peer-to-peer Internet.

content/blog/2022/03/post-8/index.md

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+---
+title: "Co-Realizing the Promise" # Quotation marks allow colons, semicolons, etc.
+description: "Together with our global community, we're realizing the initial promise of an open-source, peer-to-peer Internet owned by the people." # Quotation marks allow colons, semicolons, etc.
+date: 2022-03-21
+updated: 2022-03-21 # Comment-out this line with a # if content is unchanged
+draft: false # Make it "true" if you don't want Zola to "publish" yet
+template: blogPage.html
+taxonomies:
+  categories: ["Foundation"]
+  categories: [threefold_grid, community, farming, interview, update]
+
+extra:
+  subtitle: "The UNIQUE Post 1 subtitle" # Quotation marks allow colons, semicolons, etc.
+  author: Sacha Obeegadoo
+  authorImg: /images/people/sacha_obeegadoo.jpg
+  imgPath: images/blog/realizing_the_promise.png
+  isFeatured: true
+  
+---
+
+What was once a massive global movement sparked by the idealism of free culture and the net, is now hosting a wave of unintended consequences that may destroy sovereignty and freedom as we know it. The digital revolution and the “democratization” of the Internet promised to lead us to a prosperous and equitable world, one that brought us closer together, eliminating both physical and virtual boundaries.
+
+<br/>
+
+_“We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth… a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity… Your legal concepts of property, expression, identity, movement, and context do not apply to us. They are all based on matter, and there is no matter here.” – Declaration of independence of Cyberspace – John Perry Barlow – Davos, 1996._
+
+<br/>
+
+Unfortunately, this is not the world we live in today. Borders are hardening in our virtual world with the Great Firewall of China and the widespread emergence of Internet “clusters”. Many countries have attempted to turn off Internet services or to prevent free speech. Networks and algorithms turn us into data generators, influencing our daily habits and interests. It’s turning into a big AI-driven machine that commoditizes our lives, leaves the underserved behind and fails to provide sovereignty where we gather.
+
+<br/>
+
+A centralized Internet which is controlled by a handful of companies is a serious existential threat. The technology that connects us is now used to distract, manipulate, polarize, divide and control the way we think, act and live our lives. If emerging technologies such as IoT, Blockchain and the Metaverse are not hosted on a self-sovereign, peer-to-peer infrastructure owned by all of us, we may be running head down into the matrix.
+
+<br/>
+
+With billions of people and IoT devices expected to join this broken digital world this decade, we have no choice but to heal our broken information ecosystem if we want to address the challenges we face collectively. So as we move towards a world where tech and science are merging together, how do we ensure a neutral, inclusive and regenerative digital future – one that truly serves humanity and eliminates the barriers that divide us?
+
+<br/>
+
+The peer-to-peer Internet incentivizes all citizens of our world to connect computers from their homes or offices to participate in a distributed data economy owned by the people. By allowing humans and machines to interweave without intermediaries, a decentralized and self-sovereign Internet can emerge.
+
+<br/>
+
+Quite simply – there is no good reason that our data is being stored and controlled by others in the information age. Why are we paying centralized companies to handle our information on our behalf, when it makes us vulnerable to be turned into products, and would take us the same time to do it ourselves?
+
+<br/>
+
+Peer-to-peer isn’t an alternative to the Internet, it’s an alternative to centralized cloud giants. The Internet doesn’t need replacing; it is one of the most beautiful inventions of our civilization, if not the greatest. Which is not to say that cloud providers are completely obsolete. They serve functions that decentralized systems cannot (e.g. big data); but peer-to-peer systems are just infinitely more resilient, secure, private and scalable.
+
+<br/>
+
+In times of exponential evolution and innovation, we have our fears around the Internet.
+
+We don’t need to disconnect ourselves even further from our reality and it is our responsibility to ensure a safe and fair future for the generations to come. A centralized Internet which is controlled by a handful of companies is a serious existential threat. If emerging technologies such as IoT, Blockchain and the Metaverse are not hosted on a self-sovereign, peer-to-peer infrastructure owned by all of us, we may be running head down into the matrix.
+
+<br/>
+
+The potential of technology to change the world remains endless and limited to our own imagination. We decide to switch from fear to love, and to move forward as one humanity. It is our responsibility as global citizens to pursue greater collective consciousness.
+
+<br/>
+
+Join the [ThreeFold](https://t.me/threefold) movement, a community of like-minded people that build the world of tomorrow!
+
+<br/>
+
+- Learn how to [host the Internet](http://threefold.io/farm) at your home or office.
+- Get [TFT](https://gettft.com/gettft/), the currency of the peer-to-peer Internet.