News & Publications
Discover news about our activities and the latest publications on cybersecurity and emerging technologies.
Ironmonger House Talks Launches with Hanna Notte and Keir Giles
The series opens on Monday, 19 October 2026 with a book conversation on Russian hybrid warfare and its place in Moscow’s broader confrontation with the West.
Introducing VIRO Learning
We are launching VIRO Learning – a platform offering applied education on cybersecurity and emerging technologies.
Virtual Routes: No longer (just) virtual!
We are excited to announce that in 2026 Virtual Routes will be taking another big step: moving into a new office space in London.
Virtual Routes
Ironmonger House Talks: Our new home for conversations on emerging technology and security in London
Virtual Routes is proudly launching Ironmonger House Talks: Conversations on Emerging Technology and Security, an event series at our London office bringing together leading experts to examine how emerging technologies are reshaping security, politics and global affairs.
Virtual Routes
The long road to holding ransomware criminals accountable
We have updated the Virtual Routes Ransomware Countermeasures Tracker with 24 additional entries. Twenty cover developments from July to September 2026; four add previously unrecorded developments from April and May. The update includes announcements published through 1 October, including the operation against KillSec carried out on 30 September.
Colloquium
Virtual Routes Colloquium – Autumn/Winter 2026 session calendar out now
The Autumn/Winter 2026 Virtual Routes Colloquium Series explores the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence in global politics, security, and governance. From open-source software communities and autonomous cyber operations to frontier AI labs and China’s pursuit of frontier AI capabilities, the series examines how AI is reshaping technological competition, geopolitical power, and the possibilities for effective governance.
Virtual Routes
Virtual Routes at the OSCE Cyber/ICT Security Study Visit in Switzerland
In early October, Virtual Routes Co-Directors James Shires and Max Smeets contributed to a Study Visit on Cyber/ICT Security for National CBM 8 Points of Contact organised by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which took place in Zug and Zurich, Switzerland. The study visit brought together the national Points of Contact who serve as the OSCE's network for cyber/ICT confidence-building measures (CBMs).
Cybersecurity Seminars
Applications open: Cybersecurity and AI Summer Bootcamp 2027
Virtual Routes’ Cybersecurity and AI Summer Bootcamp will bring up to 40 students to Amsterdam for an intensive week examining how AI is reshaping cyber operations, defence and security policy. Applications are open now.
Cybersecurity Seminars
Graduate students create new ransomware defence tools for local communities
Graduate students from around the world have developed seven practical resources to help local community organizations prepare for and respond to ransomware attacks. The resources were created during Virtual Routes’ first Ransomware Defence Summer Bootcamp, held at Amsterdam Business School as part of the Google.org Cybersecurity Seminars program, and are now freely available through our website.
VIRO Learning
VIRO Learning is now available in 14 languages
Cybersecurity and emerging technology are global fields, but much of the research, discussion and educational material surrounding them is in English. To help address this imbalance, VIRO Learning is now available in 14 languages.
Virtual Routes
Alejandra Albert Muñoz joins Virtual Routes as a Project and Research Officer
Alejandra Albert Muñoz's academic and professional interests center on the geopolitical landscape of the EMEA region, with particular focus on non-nuclear deterrence and emerging warfare technologies.
Virtual Routes
Meet the 2026 European Cybersecurity PhD Accelerator Cohort
Virtual Routes is pleased to welcome the 30 scholars selected for the 2026 European Cybersecurity PhD Accelerator.
AI-Cybersecurity Research and Policy Hub
AI over Lunch: Jeanne Dillschneider
Amidst the bustle of Berlin in summer, cybersecurity lawyer and member of the Bundestag Jeanne Dillschneider warns of the risks of uncritical AI adoption, romanticising technological adoption, and political siloisation.
