IGF 2025 Lightning Talk #144 Evolving Threat Actors in Cybercrime: Youth Perspective

Session

Subtheme

(Building) - Digital Trust and Resilience

Organization's Website

https://youthforprivacy.org

Speakers

Onsite Moderator

Zino Haro & Fatuma Faarah

Rapporteur

Filip Larsen

SDGs

4. Quality Education
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships for the Goals

Targets: SDG 4 (Quality Education): The session will highlight education as a critical tool for protecting youth from cybercrime. It will show that digital literacy and practical cybersecurity skills are part of inclusive, equitable educational strategies. SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure): The youth experts like Zino Haro from Youth for Privacy will present their working project on how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence both facilitate and mitigate cyber threats, emphasizing the need for resilient and secure digital infrastructures. SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions): By addressing cybercrime's evolving nature and its impact on youth, the session contributes to promoting safer online environments, reinforcing justice systems' capacities, and supporting policies that protect vulnerable populations. SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals): The diverse range of expertise on this session underscores collaborative efforts across governments, international organizations, civil society, and youth groups. It stresses the importance of multistakeholder cooperation to combat cybercrime effectively and sustainably.

Format

We will have four speakers. Each speaker will speak for six minutes, followed by a brief Q&A from the audience, who could participate either in-person or virtually. Each speaker will be presenting from their slides, which will be shared online after the conference. For audience members who wish to contact the speakers, we can give out their contact information as requested.

Duration (minutes)

Description

This lightning talk session will explore emerging trends in cybercrime through the lens of youth vulnerability and resilience. Speakers will delve into how advanced technologies, notably artificial intelligence, are reshaping cyber threats, emphasizing their specific impacts on youth populations and mapping known cyber threats to evolving crime methods. The session will highlight cases where young people are targeted or inadvertently drawn into cybercriminal activities, discuss preventive strategies, and spotlight youth-centric initiatives combating these issues. Specifically, Zino Haro will present her research on youth in cybercrime that uses AI as part of their operation. Elina Castillo Jiménez will talk about her experiences working as a young advocate in the tech policy field and highlight the intersection of youth, cybercrime, and human rights through the lens of spyware abuse. Suraj will leverage his background to talk about cyber crime on refugee and marginalized communities. Through concise, focused presentations (6-8 minutes each), experts, youth advocates, and policy practitioners will illuminate challenges and propose actionable responses aligned with IGF2025’s thematic priorities of Digital Trust and Resilience, as we want to highlight ways policymakers and stakeholders can engage with young people on the matters of cybercrime. Attendees will gain insights into collaborative approaches and innovative solutions being implemented globally to mitigate cybercrime risks to youth. Relevant links: https://www.newamerica.org/our-people/zino-haro/ Relevant articles: https://www.wsj.com/tech/cybersecurity/arion-kurtaj-hacker-468e6cad

Although all of the speakers would be in-person at Oslo, we will allow virtual participants of the session to participate by: 1. Having the session moderator select their questions to the speakers at the end of the lighting talk session 2. Get access to the speaker’s presentation (for those who consent) after the lightning talk