United front key to fighting cybercrime
But we would do well to keep in mind that, despite the many outstanding questions on the future of cybersecurity and governance, international cooperation is essential as we tackle the ever-growing threats of cybercrime.
We are faced with online exploitation and abuse of children, darknet markets for illicit drugs and firearms, ransomware attacks, and human traffickers using social media to lure victims. And cybercrime’s unprecedented reach — across all borders, into our homes and schools, businesses, hospitals and other vital service providers — only amplifies the threats.
A recent estimate put the global cost of cybercrime in 2017 at $600 billion. The damage done to sustainable development and safety, and to gender equality and protection — women and girls are disproportionately harmed by online sexual abuse — is immense.
Keeping people safer online is an enormous task and no one entity or government has the perfect solution. But there is much we can do, and need to do more of, to strengthen prevention and improve responses to cybercrime, namely: Build up capabilities, most of all law enforcement, to shore up gaps, particularly in developing countries; and strengthen international cooperation and dialogue between governments, the UN, other international as well as regional organizations, Interpol and the many other partners, including business and civil society, with a stake in stopping cybercrime.
At the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, we are working in more than 50 countries to provide the necessary training, to sharpen investigative skills, trace cryptocurrencies as part of financial investigations, and use software to detect online abuse materials and go after predators.
Working with the Internet Watch Foundation, we have launched child sexual abuse reporting portals — most recently in Belize — so that citizens can take the initiative to report abuse images and protect children from online exploitation. With partners including Thorn and Pantallas Amigas, we are strengthening online protection and educating parents, caregivers and children about cyber risks through outreach in schools and local communities. Prevention is the key.
Countering cybercrime can save lives, grow prosperity and build peace - but world must work together to get results.
Yury Fedotov
UNODC training is also helping to identify digital evidence in online drug trafficking, confront the use of the darknet for criminal and terrorist purposes, and improve data collection to better address threats.
A critical foundation for all our efforts is international cooperation. Our work — which is entirely funded by donor governments — has shown that, despite political differences, countries can and do come together to counter the threats of cybercrime.
We are also strengthening international cooperation through the intergovernmental expert group, which meets at UNODC headquarters in Vienna. Established by a General Assembly resolution, the group brings together diplomats, policy-makers and experts from around the globe to discuss the most pressing challenges in cybercrime today.
As a next step, we need to reinforce these efforts, including by providing more resources to support developing countries, which often have the most new internet users and the weakest defences against cybercrime.
Tech companies are an indispensable ally in the fight against cybercrime. We need to increase public-private sector engagement to address common concerns like improving education and clamping down on online abuse material.
Countering cybercrime can save lives, grow prosperity and build peace. By strengthening law enforcement capacities and partnering with businesses so they can be part of the solution, we can go a long way in ensuring that the internet can be a force for good.
- Yury Fedotov is Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
