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Cybersecurity Under Siege: Cyprus Confronts Unprecedented DDoS Threats

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

August 11, 2025

Escalating Global Threats

Cybersecurity challenges are intensifying on the international stage as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks surge, placing renewed pressure on critical digital infrastructure. A recent report from Qrator Labs indicates that the volume of application-layer DDoS attacks increased by 74 percent globally during the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. These sophisticated attacks mimic legitimate user requests to infiltrate web applications, making mitigation notably complex.

Implications For Cyprus

The escalating global threat comes at a time when Cyprus faces its own cybersecurity challenges. Recent alerts from groups such as the “Tunisian Maskers Cyber Force” have underscored the vulnerability of critical national infrastructure, suggesting that geopolitical or ideological motives may be at play. Historical incidents—including cyberattacks targeting the University of Cyprus, the Land Registry, and the Open University of Cyprus in early 2023—highlight the potential for significant operational and data disruptions.

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Government Response And Strategic Investments

In response to these rising threats, the Cypriot government has recently allocated €8.5 million to enhance national digital defenses. Deputy Minister of Research Nicodemos Damianou has acknowledged that while considerable progress has been made, government entities still operate with fragmented security systems. Notable improvements include cyber defence updates for eleven critical infrastructures following the October 2024 attacks, and the strategic relocation of government servers after the 2023 flooding incident at the finance ministry.

The Rise Of Mega Botnets

Further compounding the threat landscape, Qrator Labs has identified what is being described as the largest-ever DDoS botnet, which now comprises 4.6 million infected devices—a scale nearly 20 times larger than observed in 2024. Andrey Leskin, Chief Technology Officer at Qrator Labs, warns that the sheer volume of malicious requests generated by such botnets can cripple online services, causing severe economic disruptions. He noted that many current DDoS protection solutions may be inadequate to counter an assault of this magnitude.

Preparing For Future Cyber Threats

To mitigate these escalating risks, industry experts advise organisations to refine their incident response strategies, invest in state-of-the-art DDoS mitigation solutions, and frequently test infrastructure resilience against cyber stress. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, proactive and coordinated defenses will be crucial in safeguarding both public and private sectors from the growing tide of cyber threats.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

by News Editor

August 24, 2026

Courts Are Still Applying Old Copyright Rules To AI

AI companies train models on enormous amounts of published material, including books, articles and academic research. Whether using that content without authors’ permission violates copyright law remains unresolved.

Much of the debate centres on fair use, which allows copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain circumstances. Courts consider factors such as the purpose of the use, how much material was involved and its impact on the original market.

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Anthropic Case Sets An Important Precedent

A major case involving Anthropic and a group of authors provided one of the clearest rulings so far. Judge William Alsup found that using copyrighted books to train AI models was lawful, comparing the process to people reading and studying literature before creating something new.

Anthropic was nevertheless ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The penalty concerned books the company had obtained from illegal online libraries rather than the AI training itself.

For AI companies, that distinction could prove significant because it separates studying copyrighted material from directly copying it.

Competition Could Be The Key Issue

A case involving Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence offers a different perspective. A court ruled that Ross could not claim fair use after using Reuters’ copyrighted material to develop a competing AI-powered legal research platform.

The decision suggests courts may be less willing to consider AI training fair use when copyrighted content is used to build a product that directly competes with the original.

For authors, an unresolved question is whether AI-generated content should be considered competition for the works used to train these models.

The Law Has Yet To Catch Up

US copyright law predates generative AI by decades, leaving courts to apply old principles to new technology. Questions also remain over copyright protection for AI-generated works. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, a court ruled that material created entirely by AI cannot receive copyright protection.

Major AI companies remain involved in copyright litigation, and different courts could reach different conclusions. For now, there is no universal rule: the legality of AI training will depend on the circumstances of each case and how courts ultimately interpret copyright and fair use.