United Nations: Member States finalize a new cybercrime convention.

After three years of work, the committee established by the UN General Assembly to negotiate a new convention on cybercrime agreed today on a draft convention text.

The draft convention is expected to be adopted by the General Assembly later this year, thus becoming the first global legally binding instrument on cybercrime.

This achievement represents the culmination of a five-year effort by UN Member States, with the input of civil society, academic institutions and the private sector.

The finalization of this Convention is a landmark step as the first multilateral anti-crime treaty in over 20 years and the first UN Convention against Cybercrime at a time when threats in cyberspace are growing rapidly.  

As noted in the draft convention, technology has created opportunities for a greater scale, speed, and scope of crimes, from terrorism to drug trafficking to trafficking in persons, migrant smuggling, firearms trafficking, and more.

The draft convention – available here - provides tools that will enhance international cooperation, law enforcement efforts, technical assistance, and capacity-building relating to cybercrime.