UNConventional Cybercrime: Bad Treaty Becoming Law

Negotiating the UN Cybercrime Treaty

The United Nations has drafted a comprehensive global cybercrime treaty that risks reshaping international anti-hacking legal standards and cross-border surveillance agreements.

Threats to Legitimate Security Research

Katitza Rodriguez and Bill Budington highlight the treaty's broad definitions of unauthorized access, which lack explicit safe harbor protections for ethical hackers, penetration testers, and bug bounty hunters.

Human Rights and Surveillance Overreach

The proposed framework grants governments expansive powers for cross-border electronic evidence sharing and digital surveillance without robust procedural safeguards.

Advocacy and Community Action in Vienna

EFF delegates report from the treaty negotiations in Vienna, calling on the global hacker community to demand explicit researcher exemptions in final treaty ratifications.