20 Years Of Budapest Convention: Know All About International Treaty To Fight Cyber Crime

NEW DELHI: When faced with an ever-increasing amount of cyber attacks, information security professionals may believe there is nothing that can be done to stem the tide of online dangers.

However, without the Budapest Convention, which was established 20 years ago this month, things could be far worse.

It was the world’s first international accord to combat online criminal conduct, officially known as the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime.

The Convention had a worldwide impact. It has aided in the strengthening and harmonisation of countries’ cybercrime legislation, the improvement of international cooperation in investigating and prosecuting crimes committed via the Internet, and the development of public-private partnerships.

The Council of Europe will also commemorate the milestone at its annual international summit to enhance the fight against cybercrime, which begins on November 16th. Countries taking part will debate the relationship between crime and cryptocurrencies, ransomware, the identification of online child abuse materials, and other topics.

The Budapest Convention has been ratified by 66 countries, including the United States, which did so in 2006. Several more countries are in the process of signing on to the treaty as well.

This treaty [the Convention] was well ahead of its time. Even countries that have not signed the Budapest Convention have adopted several of its provisions in order to ensure that they have robust substantive legislation. As a result, it has had that effect. There has been an upsurge in international cooperation in this field. A number of capacity-building programmes have also taken place in this area.

Fighting cybercrime necessitates international cooperation, which is why the Budapest Convention is so crucial. It necessitates that countries enact stringent legislation. It necessitates that countries have the necessary competencies.

“We need to increase up enforcement activities,” a cyber specialist said. “We need to step up the priorities of these cases, and we need to step up the amount of money and manpower we spend to them.”

“Without the Convention, we’d be in even worse situation. We wouldn’t have those laws, and we wouldn’t be able to go after those folks [cybercriminals]. We need to do a better job at it, but it doesn’t imply the instrument that allows you to do it isn’t working. We must do more,” he added.

Follow The420.in on

 Telegram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube