Sixty-five countries have signed the first-ever United Nations treaty aimed at fighting cybercrime, even as rights groups and technology companies voiced growing unease over its potential impact on privacy and surveillance.
After five years of negotiations, the UN Convention against Cybercrime was adopted by the General Assembly in December 2024, establishing the first universal legal framework for investigating and prosecuting online offenses.
The new convention introduces mechanisms for cross-border sharing of electronic evidence, a 24/7 cooperation network among signatory states, and the first international recognition of non-consensual image sharing as a criminal offense. It will enter into force 90 days after 40 states formally ratify it.
A global framework for digital security
According to UN officials, the treaty aims to provide countries, especially those in the Global South, with technical support, resources, and training to combat online threats.
At a signing ceremony in Hanoi, UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the treaty as “a powerful, legally binding instrument to strengthen our collective defences against cybercrime.”
He said the treaty “provides a clear pathway for investigators and prosecutors to overcome barriers to justice when crimes and evidence cross multiple borders.”
The treaty’s cooperative structure, he added, ensures that “no nation is left defenceless against cybercrime.”
Rights groups warn of surveillance risks
While many governments have celebrated the treaty’s adoption, rights organizations and technology firms have expressed concern that its broad definitions could be used to justify expanded state surveillance, and warn that it could enable governments to misuse digital evidence-sharing provisions for political repression.
Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, founder of the Tech Global Institute, stated that the treaty “could compel companies to share user data without adequate safeguards.” Furthermore, Access Now’s Raman Jit Singh Chima added that it risks “validating cyber authoritarianism and facilitating transnational repression across borders.”
UN officials maintain that the convention includes privacy and human rights protections, and Guterres has urged states to implement it responsibly. “This treaty must be a promise that fundamental rights — privacy, dignity, and safety — are protected both offline and online,” he said.
The UN Convention against Cybercrime represents a turning point in international efforts to make cyberspace safer, though not without debate over its cost to freedom.
In other cybersecurity news, severe bugs in Dell Storage Manager allow hackers to bypass authentication and gain remote access.
