UN Secretary General’s Roadmap on Digital Cooperation addresses trust and security

Trust and security feature as one of the eight topics addressed in the “Roadmap for Digital Cooperation” report, published by the United Nations Secretary-General. The report, which is a follow-up to the recommendations by the High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, recognises the efforts made by the UN GGE and OEWG, ITU and UNDP, but also the values added by the Paris Call, GCSC and the GFCE. The report warns about increasing cybercrime, exploitation of the Internet by the terrorists and violent extremists, attacks against critical infrastructure, as well as growing capabilities of state and non-state actors to conduct cyber-operations, including disinformation targeting elections and political systems. It also suggests that “the legitimate concerns underlying the need for encryption without undermining legitimate law enforcement objectives is possible”. In the way forward, the report calls for broad and overarching statement by member states – which could be further supported by other stakeholders – on links between digital trust and security and SDGs, deploying digital technologies in a safe and trustworthy manner that narrows digital divide, and engaging states on the mater while not duplicating the work of the GGE and OEWG.