Between 3 and 5 April, 2018, the fourth session of the open-ended intergovernmental expert group to conduct a comprehensive study of the problem of cybercrime was held in Vienna. Apart from SCO experts, cybercrime specialists from 91 countries as well as the Council of Europe and the EU took part.
Experts discussed a wide range of relevant matters concerning cybercrime and its prevention, plus issues of creating an effective legislative framework to ensure the security and protection of state and private information objects from cyberattacks.
The participants also exchanged opinions on preventing the use of information and communications technology for criminal purposes. In particular, they discussed the criminalisation of certain types of conduct, procedural powers, criminal jurisdiction, admissibility of digital evidence, the obligations of data protection providers, plus international cooperation in combating cybercrime.
During the session, SCO experts presented a report, "The SCO activities, adopted legislation and current mechanisms of interaction." Experts at the gathering also acknowledged the role and importance of the Agreement between the Governments of the SCO Member States on Cooperation in Ensuring International Information Security, dated 2009, in combating cybercrime.
Following the meeting, a report on the session of the expert group was adopted.
The open-ended intergovernmental expert group was established in line with paragraph 42 of the Salvador Declaration on Comprehensive Strategies for Global Challenges: Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Systems and Their Development in a Changing World for conducting a comprehensive study of cybercrime and responses to it by 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 a view to examining options to strengthen existing and to propose new national as well as international legal or other responses to cybercrime.
The Agreement between the Governments of the SCO Member States on Cooperation in Ensuring International Information Security was signed within the framework of the SCO Summit in Yekaterinburg, on 16 June 2009.