The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proposed by Russia to combat cybercrime.

79 countries voted for the document, against 60, 33 countries abstained.

The document provides for the creation by the General Assembly of a special intergovernmental committee of experts representing all regions, whose task will be to develop an international convention on counteracting the use of information and communication technologies for criminal purposes.

The special committee that will be involved in the implementation of the initiative will hold the first organizational session in New York in 2020, during which a further action plan will be agreed, said Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Gennady Kuzmin in a TASS commentary. He clarified that the new structure will carefully study the report of the Vienna expert group on cybercrime before making any decisions.

As Kuzbmin explained, the resolution suggests that "the era of club deals should give way to a democratic negotiation process."

“It’s crucial for us that this process be inclusive and transparent,” Kuzmin concluded.

The Russian Foreign Ministry previously noted that the resolution proposed by Russia actually secures the digital sovereignty of states over its information space and opens a new page in the history of global opposition to cybercrime.

“In practical terms, a negotiation platform is being created under the auspices of the UN General Assembly to develop a universal convention to combat cyber crime. Such an international body will be the Ad Hoc Committee, which will include experts from all over the world, ”the department emphasized.

During the meeting, US representative Cherit Norman Chalet said that the Russian resolution “would undermine international cooperation in the fight against cybercrimes” and create obstacles to global efforts.

The United States opposed the adoption of the resolution at the voting stage in the framework of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on November 18. The State Department said that the resolution involves the creation of a group that would engage in a new treaty to counter cybercrime. The representative of the American agency recalled that in order to resolve issues in this area, the so-called Budapest Convention (Convention on Computer Crime, approved by the Council of Europe in 2001) has already been adopted. Commenting on the Russian initiative, the State Department said that Moscow is trying to promote its vision of how the Internet should be in the future. The United States added that Russia wants to gain control of the Internet space, which runs counter to fundamental American freedoms.

The State Department also said that if the resolution is still approved, Washington will decide on the “most optimal answer.”

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In turn, the special envoy of the President of the Russian Federation for international cooperation in the field of information security, Andrey Krutskikh, explained that Moscow does not oppose its initiative to the existing Budapest Convention, but offers to “modernize” it. He noted that the Convention, in particular, does not address the topic of cyber terrorism, which must be spelled out.

Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, head of the Commission for the Protection of State Sovereignty Andrei Klimov, in a conversation with RT, noted that Washington still considers the Internet the property of the United States.

“This invention, from their point of view was made in the USA, belongs, from their point of view, to the States, and is obliged to serve exclusively their interests. As a matter of fact, the Americans considered this not only theoretically, but also used it very actively, including the cyber attacks that are carried out in relation to our country, they come from the United States by 48%. Recent data say even more, ”he said.

Recall, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov previously noted that cyber attacks against Russian citizens and organizations are regularly carried out from the United States.

“In general, a huge number of cyberattacks are constantly being organized from various territories of the United States to various Russian organizations, legal entities and individuals. This is a reality in which we live ... When we talk about different Russian hackers, we say that we look at those who attack, for example, the president’s website - there are a lot of attacks from Europe, North America and so on. on an ongoing basis, ”emphasized Peskov.

Klimov, in turn, added that Russia was proposing to the American side to create a commission that would consider complex cases of cyber attacks, but did not receive a clear answer.

“At the same time, we appealed to the international community, including through parliamentary diplomacy, and we made significant progress in this, judging by the fact that we are also supported by the UN. So here we are not talking about infringing on someone’s rights, but about not infringing on the rights of sovereign states, ”he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry previously noted that the damage to the global economy from crimes in the field of information and communication technologies in 2019 could increase to $ 2 trillion, and in 2020 to $ 3 trillion. Ilya Rogachev, director of the department’s new challenges and threats department, explained that among the common cybercrimes, crimes committed for the sake of profit, cyberbullying and hacker attacks, which previously did not receive proper attention within the UN, are especially distinguished.

Andrei Svintsov, deputy chairman of the State Duma committee on information policy, information technology and communications, said in an interview with RT that in the modern world, information space is becoming the main tool for influencing both economic and political processes, and most countries understand this.

“Of course, most countries have realized that protecting the information space, protecting digital media within states is the most important task for the coming decades. Therefore, the creation of a supranational structure at the UN level, which will be engaged in the development of mechanisms, strategies, and the development of tools to combat cyber crime is extremely important, ”the deputy concluded.