The CTF Summer School 2026 is taking place in the Moscow Region from July 29 to August 15, with the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ serving as a long-standing partner of the event.
The participants include high school students, university students specializing in the area, members of Russian CTF teams, and anyone interested in practical information security. The program features lectures by leading cybersecurity experts, hands-on sessions, information security competitions, hackathons, master classes, and other educational activities.
Combating phishing was among the topics covered in the educational program. Olga Baskakova, head of projects at the Coordination Center, delivered a lecture, The Expert and Wider Community Against Phishing, focusing on the specifics of countering modern cyber threats.
At the beginning of her presentation, Olga Baskakova introduced the audience to the structure of modern internet infrastructure and explained the roles played by content providers, hosting providers, internet service providers, and the Domain Name System (DNS) in facilitating access to online resources. She also discussed the scale of the domain space and clarified that a domain name and a website are not the same thing. Furthermore, she explained that suspending the delegation of a domain name does not mean that the content hosted on the resource is removed.
The lecturer paid particular attention to the Coordination Center’s role in the efforts to combat abuse within national domain zones. Participants learned how the registry coordinates with other stakeholders in the cyber-threat defense ecosystem and why combating phishing requires a coordinated effort involving the government, businesses, and the expert community.
“There is no single universal solution for combating phishing. Effective countermeasures are possible only through the collaborative efforts of registries, registrars, government agencies, law enforcement bodies, telecom operators, banks, cybersecurity specialists, and users themselves. Only such a comprehensive approach can significantly undermine the effectiveness of fraudulent schemes,” Olga Baskakova noted.
A dedicated section of the lecture focused on social engineering, one of the primary tools used by cyber-fraudsters today. Olga Baskakova explained that attackers most often exploit strong user emotions, such as fear, curiosity, or the prospect of gain, as well as personalized appeals and psychological tactics designed to induce individuals to disclose confidential information.
The lecture concluded with a discussion of current trends in cyber-fraud, including the issue of “money mules” (also knows as droppers) and measures aimed at reducing their involvement in illicit activities, as well as relevant legislative changes.
