Hi, for me, one of the biggest success stories of WSIS Action Line 5 is the adoption of the UN Convention on Cybercrime (2024) and the establishment of the new Global Mechanism on Cybersecurity under the 1st Committee of the UNGA (2025). Cybersecurity was one of the key issues when WSIS started in 2002. It was just a couple of months after the signing of the Budapest Convention against cybercrime (2001). At this time cybersecurity was seen more as "cybercrime" and less as "national security" issue. But the call for a "Global Culture of Cybersecurity" in the Geneva WSIS Declaration (2003) stimulated the UNGA in 2004, to consider the subject and to kick start a process which led to GGEs and the 11 principles of responsible state behaviour (2015). We did have six GGEs, two OEWGs and one AHC which produced a lot of concrete results, inspired by WSIS. This includes also the new POC Mechanism and the various projects on CBMs and capacity building, mentioned in Gafoor´s Final Report. Below you find the text from para. 12 of the the WSIS Geneva Plan of Action which more or less called for actions, which have been discussed by the UN since 2003. The IGF discussed also cybersecurity issues from the very beginning and established a BPF on cybersecurity. The weak point was, that there was never a direct or formal linkage between the IGF, the Action Line (facilitated by ITU) and GGE/OEWG. But one could argue that without WSIS the UN process would have probably started later or would have moved into another direction. This relates also to the involvement of non-state actors into the proceedings of the OEWG. This was a controversial issue since 2020, but the outcome now is, as proposed in the final report of the OEWG chair, that we will have a reasonable compromise for the new Global Mechanism. This was certainly inspired by all the multistakeholder experiences made within the IGF and the WSIS process. Without WSIS, no Annex 1 of the Final OEWG Report. Para. 12 of the Geneva Plan of Action 12. Confidence and security are among the main pillars of the Information Society. 1. Promote cooperation among the governments at the United Nations and with all stakeholders at other appropriate fora to enhance user confidence, build trust, and protect both data and network integrity; consider existing and potential threats to ICTs; and address other information security and network security issues. 2. Governments, in cooperation with the private sector, should prevent, detect and respond to cyber-crime and misuse of ICTs by: developing guidelines that take into account ongoing efforts in these areas; considering legislation that allows for effective investigation and prosecution of misuse; promoting effective mutual assistance efforts; strengthening institutional support at the international level for preventing, detecting and recovering from such incidents; and encouraging education and raising awareness. 3. Governments, and other stakeholders, should actively promote user education and awareness about online privacy and the means of protecting privacy. 4. Take appropriate action on spam at national and international levels. 5. Encourage the domestic assessment of national law with a view to overcoming any obstacles to the effective use of electronic documents and transactions including electronic means of authentication. 6. Further strengthen the trust and security framework with complementary and mutually reinforcing initiatives in the fields of security in the use of ICTs, with initiatives or guidelines with respect to rights to privacy, data and consumer protection. 7. Share good practices in the field of information security and network security and encourage their use by all parties concerned. 8. Invite interested countries to set up focal points for real-time incident handling and response, and develop a cooperative network between these focal points for sharing information and technologies on incident response. 9. Encourage further development of secure and reliable applications to facilitate online transactions. 10. Encourage interested countries to contribute actively to the ongoing United Nations activities to build confidence and security in the use of ICTs.
Wolfgang