There are regions controlled by different internet authorities, you have:
ARIN (North America and Canada, North Atlantic and part of the Caribbean)
APNIC (Asia Pacific and parts of Oceana)
AFRINIC (Africa and parts of the Indian Ocean)
LACNIC (Latin America and part of the Caribbean)
RIPE NCC (Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia)
They control IP addresses and Autonomous System administration and registration. Depending on the threat level or attacks, you can block a whole range of IP addresses to eliminate a threat/attack with the assistance of an ISP, or you can block them as a precaution before the attack takes place.
The key authorities control the ranges for the regions they are part of and can assist finding the region and area the bad activity is coming from. The level of blocking and attacking depends on the skill of the attacker and the defender, and the potential of an "outbreak" from a botnet.
My guess would be that there have been some recent probes, attempts or attacks from somewhere in your region that has caused the block. What the scope of the threat is is anyone's guess.