Russia to propose a convention on countering cybercrime to the UN

Russia has drafted a universal convention on countering cybercrime, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated during his speech at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, and proposed to open the discussion on it during the current UN session already. The draft of the convention was presented to the UN experts in Vienna in April but has not been made public [update: draft now available here]; earlier this year, however, media has reported that Moscow sees the draft as a necessary replacement of the Council of Europe Budapest Convention of 2001, which it has not signed due to, among other, concerns over national sovereignty in case of trans-border access to stored computer data during investigation. According to these and other media sources, the draft convention lists various crimes including illegal access to information and its interception, creation of malware, and violation of copyrights; presents options of international cooperation such as joint investigations, information-sharing, and extradition of suspects even in case no bilateral agreements exist; proposes a 24/7 contact and support center for investigation; calls for holding regular conferences under the UN and the set-up of a permanent international commission on the technical means for combating crime. According to Lavrov, the draft convention on countering cybercrime also includes hacking. Appealing against the militarisation of information space and politico-military confrontation within it, Lavrov also invited for UN efforts on elaboration of the rules of responsible behavior.