Hanoi: The United Nations launched the signing of the first-ever global convention to prevent and combat cybercrime. The ceremony took place in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Saturday.

This historic step aims to counter the mounting threats stemming from the misuse of information and communication technologies, which trigger crimes such as terrorism, trafficking in persons, financial crimes, and narcotics trafficking on an unprecedented scale.

To date, the treaty has been signed by 65 countries, each of which must subsequently ratify it according to its national procedures.

During the signing ceremony of this convention, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres affirmed that the treaty constitutes a strong and legally binding instrument to enhance collective defenses against cybercrime.

He described it as a testament to the enduring power of multilateral solutions and pledged that no country, regardless of its level of development, would be left unprotected against cybercrime.

The convention stands as the first global framework for collecting, exchanging, and proffering electronic evidence related to all serious crimes, as there were no widely accepted international standards in this field until now.

It represents the first international treaty to criminalize cybercrimes, alongside crimes related to online fraud, provisions on child abuse, and the exploitation or online luring of children, in addition to establishing a global 24/7 network, enabling countries to cooperate instantly and emphasizing the importance of building states' capacities to track accelerating cybercrimes and collaborate on addressing them.

Cybercrime is reshaping organized crime as it is known, with the new UN convention providing member states with a vital tool to cooperate in combating cybercrime. This signing reaffirms the enduring importance of multilateral collaboration after five years of negotiations, said Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Waly.

Notably, the UNGA adopted the convention in December 2024, and it is scheduled to enter into formal effect 90 days after the deposit of the fortieth instrument of ratification with the UN Secretary-General, that is, following ratification by no fewer than 40 states in accordance with their domestic legal procedures, which constitutes the minimum threshold required to ensure broad international alignment before its actual entry into force.

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