The United Nations has in the General Assembly, Resolution 65/230, initiated a study of the problem of cybercrime, in order to convene an open-ended  intergovernmental expert group to conduct a comprehensive study on the problem of cybercrime as well as thye response to it. The study group is organized by by the UNODC in Vienna,

«with a view to examening options to strengthen existing and to propose new national and international legal or other responses to cybercrime».

  The experrt group had the First Session in Vienna, January, 2011. A questionnaire was in February 2012 sent to all United Nations Member States, the private sector, IGOs and academia. Regional workshops were also organized.

The Second Session was held in Vienna February 25-28, 2013. The drafting and recommendations of the study was discussed, and The Session decided on the way forward.

General Assembly

The General Assembly has in 2010 adopted the Resolution 65/230 based initially on the Salvador Declaration Article 42. A draft Resolution by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Article 8 was based on the Salvador Declaration Article 42 (2010). The Resolution made a proposal to establish as follows:

« an open-ended intergovernmental expert group to conduct a comprehensive study of the problem of cybercrime and responses to it by the Member States, the international community and the private sector, including the exchange of information on national legislation, best practices, technical assistance and international cooperation, with the view to examening options to strengthen existing and to propose new national and international legal or other responses to cybercrime.»

The Resolution was adopted by the Commission, and later by the United Nations General Assembly in its Resolution 65/230.

A Resolution on combating the criminal misuse of information technologies was adopted by the General Assembly on December 4, 2000 Resolution 55/63, including as follows:

"(a) States should ensure that their laws and practice eliminate safe havens for those who criminally misuse information technologies.

(d) Legal systems should protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data and computer systems from unauthorized impairment and ensure that criminal abuse is penalized."

Resolution 56/121 was adopted on December 19, 2001, including recommendations on the prevention and combat criminal misuse of information technologies.

United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

The United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice have looked at technical issues and criminal enforcement of computer misuse for at least the last four Congresses. The United Nations adopted in 1990 a resolution on computer crime legislation at the 8th U.N. Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in Havana, Cuba.

The most recent 12th Congress in Salvador, Brasil, (2010) focused on issues of cybercrime a several events. The Congress reports and background papers are both available from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

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