Keynote: Frédérick Douzet

Overview: Frédérick Douzet delivers a keynote address on the geopolitical forces reshaping the physical and logical architecture of cyberspace. The presentation explores how escalating state conflicts weaponize the public core of the internet, driving two converging trends: national fragmentation ("Balkanization") and corporate centralization around cloud hyperscalers. Douzet introduces an advanced BGP topological mapping methodology to uncover hidden strategic chokepoints and analyze state-sponsored internet manipulation during international crises.

Key Topics: - Geopolitical militarization of cyberspace and the weaponization of core internet routing - The dual dynamics of internet restructuring: state fragmentation versus hyperscaler concentration - Real-time BGP routing graph methodology for topological and geopolitical analysis - Case study of Iran's centralized routing topology and government-controlled gateway chokepoints

Technical Details: Geopolitical conflicts are increasingly fought not only across digital applications but directly upon the physical and logical infrastructure of the internet. Douzet illustrates this reality through events during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: in Kherson, Russian forces severed local telecommunications infrastructure and rerouted all regional internet traffic through Russian state-controlled networks, asserting digital territorial control. Simultaneously, Western Tier-1 transit providers such as Cogent and Lumen withdrew services from Russia. These actions highlight two structural trends: first, fragmentation along national borders driven by state assertions of "digital sovereignty," where governments seek to inspect, divert, or sever data flows; and second, private concentration, where global traffic increasingly routes through a handful of dominant cloud hyperscalers and Tier-1 operators, creating opaque systemic dependencies.

To systematically study these dynamics, Douzet and computer scientist Kavé Salamatian developed the "Mapping Internet Routes for Geopolitics" platform. The system continuously ingests Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing updates advertised by routers globally, constructing a real-time topology of the internet's Autonomous Systems (ASes) and inter-AS routing links. The platform generates minute-by-minute topological graphs comprising approximately 89,000 nodes (ASes) and over 200,000 routing edges, enriched with open-source intelligence (OSINT) detailing AS ownership, physical geolocation, and IP prefix allocations. Force-directed spatialization algorithms and network centrality metrics are then applied to identify routing concentration and single points of failure.

The power of this methodology is demonstrated through an empirical study of Iran's network architecture. In November 2019, the Iranian government executed a near-total nationwide internet blackout within 24 hours. Douzet's research team had mapped and predicted this capability in June 2018. Their BGP topological graph revealed that Iran's domestic network forms an asymmetrical, tree-like structure heavily marginalized from regional peers and bottlenecked through only three state-controlled transit gateways: the Information Technology Company (ITC), the Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC), and the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM). Controlling these three centralized AS nodes allows the state to isolate domestic internet communications instantaneously while maintaining internal operational connectivity.

Key Takeaways: Internet resilience and security can no longer be analyzed purely through technical metrics, as physical infrastructure and routing paths are deeply bound to geopolitical conflict. Network defenders and enterprise architects must map upstream BGP dependencies to identify hidden topological chokepoints that can be severed by state actors. The cybersecurity community must actively collaborate with geopolitical analysts to monitor both state fragmentation and commercial hyperscaler concentration to preserve the open, resilient architecture of the global internet core.

(AI summary — Gemini Flash)