Tokelau quickly became the unwitting host to the dark underworld by providing a never-ending supply of domain names that could be weaponised against Internet users. Scammers began using .tk websites to do everything, from harvesting passwords and payment information to displaying pop-up ads or delivering malware.
It was from an early internet entrepreneur from Amsterdam, named Joost Zuurbier. He wanted to manage Tokelau’s country-code top-level domain, or ccTLD the…