THE MOMENT HAS ARRIVED — The climax of a yearslong cybercrime saga unfolds this week, with negotiators from across the globe descending on United Nations headquarters in New York to grapple with the final steps of a historic international treaty. Here’s what to watch for during the two-week stretch. — What’s on the table: After years of haggling, it’s the seventh (and final) session between the global negotiators working to approve a draft text meant to build a common criminal policy aimed at “the protection of society against” cybercrime and the use of information technology for criminal purposes. That should snowball into one day adopting appropriate legislation, setting minimum standards for cybercrime laws and creating technical assistance to help countries develop the capacity to investigate and prosecute cybercrime cases. The draft so far focuses on some of the world’s pressing cybercrimes, like stealing money and information online, preying on children and hiding dirty money. — Context is key: The United Nations first made the decision to put together an international convention on cybercrime back in a 2019 resolution. When finished, the draft document will be provided to the General Assembly — where there is currently no legal binding consensus on international cybercrime. — What to expect from the U.S.: A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, tells Morning Cyber the U.S. will push to include “criminal statutes specific to core cybercrime offenses,” such as tougher mandates against hacking, snooping, data tampering and device misuse. The negotiating team also wants a system for sharing evidence across borders without trampling on privacy. — Who’ll be there: Former U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Deborah McCarthy is heading the American delegation, where the stated approach is to prioritize international cooperation and human rights. McCarthy’s team also features officials from the State and Justice departments. Also taking part are representatives from 15 U.N. member states, including delegations from Russia and China. But not everyone’s on board: proposals from Russia and China on protecting critical information infrastructure and personal data had been reintroduced during the last session in August — but were not met with broad consensus, the official said. — Worldwide detractors: A coalition of human rights groups and security researchers has been raising red flags about the proposed treaty, blasting it as an overbroad, privacy-crushing weapon that could stifle dissent and empower authoritarian regimes. More than 100 advocacy organizations and individual experts signed on to the statement in the week ahead of the negotiations urging negotiators to either narrow its scope to improve cybersecurity on the open internet — or abandon the whole thing. “There's still not a very clear definition of what cybercrime is,” said Deborah Brown, the acting associate director and senior researcher for tech and human rights at Human Rights Watch, who has been tracking the treaty since 2019. “So that still leaves a window open and there’s also the cooperation of surveillance aspects on virtually any crime.” “As it stands, we wouldn't support this draft at all,” Brown asserted.
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