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js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"24.441747572816\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"30.066666666667\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/cybersecurity\/\"> <span>Cybersecurity<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Critics say the draft version of the global treaty backed by China and Russia could be used to persecute security researchers and activists. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/microsoft-joins-a-growing-chorus-of-organizations-criticizing-a-un-cybercrime-treaty.jpg?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"cyber norms\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/microsoft-joins-a-growing-chorus-of-organizations-criticizing-a-un-cybercrime-treaty-1.jpg 2121w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/microsoft-joins-a-growing-chorus-of-organizations-criticizing-a-un-cybercrime-treaty-1.jpg?resize=300,168 300w, 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https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/microsoft-joins-a-growing-chorus-of-organizations-criticizing-a-un-cybercrime-treaty-1.jpg?resize=1200,675 1200w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/microsoft-joins-a-growing-chorus-of-organizations-criticizing-a-un-cybercrime-treaty-1.jpg?resize=1500,843 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption> The United Nations flag (Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"39.337546076883\"><body readability=\"79.163384779138\"><\/p>\n<p>Microsoft on Tuesday joined human rights and civil liberties groups raising serious concerns about an international cybercrime treaty the United Nations is negotiating this week to create a legal framework for cooperation on preventing digital crimes. <\/p>\n<p>While a number of advocacy groups such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/issues\/un-cybercrime-treaty\">Electronic Frontier Foundation<\/a> have criticized aspects of the draft UN Cybercrime Treaty, Microsoft appears to be the first big tech company to weigh in publicly during the latest round of discussions, urging negotiators to address what it called overly broad definitions of cybercrime that could lead to human rights abuses.<\/p>\n<p>Among the tech giant\u2019s concerns are that the treaty\u2019s provisions for government access to personal data could provide governments a front for \u201creal-time surveillance\u201d of anything they deem a crime. Moreover, the treaty does not provide safeguards for companies to notify targets of surveillance. Additionally, Microsoft expressed concerns that the draft treaty doesn\u2019t protect \u201cethical hackers\u201d in sections of the document about criminalizing cyber intrusions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to ensure that ethical hackers who use their skills to identify vulnerabilities, simulate cyberattacks, and test system defenses are protected,\u201d Amy Hogan-Burney, associate general counsel for cybersecurity policy and protection at Microsoft, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/we-need-fight-cybercrime-increase-state-surveillance%3FtrackingId=kPpTrN8xTqmTI7STtJ7%252BhQ%253D%253D\/?trackingId=kPpTrN8xTqmTI7STtJ7%2BhQ%3D%3D\">wrote in a LinkedIn Post<\/a>. \u201cKey criminalization provisions are too vague and do not include a reference to \u2018criminal intent,\u2019 which would ensure activities like penetration testing remain lawful.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The LinkedIn post preceded a stakeholder session hosted Tuesday by Microsoft and groups including Access Now and the CyberPeace Institute, a nonprofit that Microsoft funds. <\/p>\n<p>The treaty has been strongly backed by China and Russia, which <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/united-nations-cybercrime-treaty-human-rights-privacy-surveillance\/\">last spring<\/a> pushed for a successful resolution to curb the \u201cuse of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But since treaty <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/un-cyber-russia-china-us-hacking\/\">negotiations began in 2021<\/a>, critics have raised a number of issues. Several groups including Access Now, EFF and Human Rights Watch hosted a briefing last week to voice concerns that the treaty could facilitate expanded surveillance by law enforcement and undermine privacy and free expression by journalists, activists and marginalized groups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe treaty could harm the very people it\u2019s meant to protect,\u201d Carey Shenkman, human rights attorney at Article 19, a nonprofit that defends freedom of expression globally, said during the briefing.<\/p>\n<p>Despite ongoing criticisms of the treaty, the U.S. government expressed optimism about the outcome of the negotiations, <a href=\"https:\/\/therecord.media\/global-cybercrime-treaty-disastrous-rights-orgs\">Recorded Future News reported last week<\/a>. The U.S. State Department was \u201coptimistic that the negotiations are \u201con a path towards a consensus-based treaty that will help countries fight the scourge of cybercrime,\u201d a spokesperson told the outlet.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Chris Painter, a former cyber diplomat for the U.S. who has been attending negotiations, told CyberScoop that all of the concerns raised by Microsoft and others are still \u201cin flux.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn particular, the scope issue is critical as Russia and its allies want a very broad scope that risks criminalizing dissent and other things we believe should be protected,\u201d Painter wrote in a message. \u201cThere isn\u2019t really much of a middle ground here so this threshold issue (as well as others) is critical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that while it\u2019s too early to tell what final negotiations will look like, a failure to reach an agreement could lead to \u201ca vote that would be both a bad precedent and risks many countries simply not signing on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The current negotiation for the cybercrime treaty will run until Friday. A final vote will not take place until January 2024.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\">\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 class=\"popular-stories__title\"> More Scoops <\/h2>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<section class=\"latest-podcasts\">\n<h2 class=\"latest-podcasts__title\"> Latest Podcasts\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"top-categories\">\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Technology<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Government<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/main> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"interstitial\" class=\"welcome__container\"> <button id=\"close-modal-1\" class=\"welcome__clickable_area\"><\/button> <\/p>\n<div class=\"welcome__ad_wrapper\">\n<p> <button id=\"close-modal-3\" class=\"welcome__continue-button\">Continue to CyberScoop<\/button> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>   <\/body> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/microsoft-un-cybercrime-treaty\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft joins a growing chorus of organizations criticizing a UN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[282,78,302,871],"tags":[286,86,306,872],"class_list":["post-1629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cybercrime","category-cybersecurity","category-geopolitics","category-united-nations","tag-cybercrime","tag-cybersecurity","tag-geopolitics","tag-united-nations"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","chromenews-featured":"","chromenews-large":"","chromenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Cyber Scoop","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/cyberscoop\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/cybercrime\/\" rel=\"category tag\">cybercrime<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/cybersecurity\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Cybersecurity<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/geopolitics\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Geopolitics<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/united-nations\/\" rel=\"category tag\">United Nations<\/a>","tag_info":"United Nations","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":1629,"date":"2023-08-29T19:41:10","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T19:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=76691"},"modified":"2023-08-29T19:41:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T19:41:10","slug":"microsoft-joins-a-growing-chorus-of-organizations-criticizing-a-un-cybercrime-treaty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2023\/08\/29\/microsoft-joins-a-growing-chorus-of-organizations-criticizing-a-un-cybercrime-treaty\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft joins a growing chorus of organizations criticizing a UN cybercrime treaty"},"content":{"rendered":"