Recognizing WSIS Impacts

WTSA RESOLUTION 58 (Rev. Dubai, 2012)

Encouraging the creation of national computer incident response teams, particularly for developing countries

The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (Dubai, 2012),

• considering
  • that Resolution 123 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010) of the Plenipotentiary Conference instructs the Secretary-General and the Directors of the three Bureaux to work closely with each other in pursuing initiatives that assist in bridging the standardization gap between developing and developed countries,
• recognizing
  • a) the highly satisfactory results obtained by the regional approach within the framework of Resolution 54 (Rev. Dubai, 2012) of this assembly;
  • b) the increasing level of computer use and computer dependency in information and communication technologies (ICT) within developing countries;
  • c) the increasing attacks and threat on ICT networks through computers;
  • d) the work carried out by the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) under Question 22/1 of ITU-D Study Group 1 on this subject,
• noting
  • a) that there is still a low level of computer emergency preparedness within many countries, particularly developing countries;
  • b) that the high level of interconnectivity of ICT networks could be affected by the launch of an attack from networks of the less-prepared nations, which are mostly the developing countries;
  • c) the importance of having an appropriate level of computer emergency preparedness in all countries;
  • d) the need for establishment of computer incident response teams (CIRTs) on a national basis and the importance of coordination within and among the regions,
  • e) the work of Study Group 17 of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) in the area of national CIRTs, particularly for developing countries, and cooperation between them, as contained in the outputs of the study group,
• bearing in mind
  • that well-functioning CIRTs in developing countries will serve to improve the level of developing countries’ participation in world computer emergency response activities and contribute to achieving an effective global ICT infrastructure,
• resolves
  • to support the creation of national CIRTs in Member States where CIRTs are needed and are currently absent,
• instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, in collaboration with the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau
  • 1 to identify best practices to establish CIRTs;
  • 2 to identify where CIRTs are needed;
  • 3 to collaborate with international experts and bodies to establish national CIRTs;
  • 4 to provide support, as appropriate, within existing budgetary resources;
  • 5 to facilitate collaboration between national CIRTs, such as capacity building and exchange of information, within an appropriate framework,
• invites the Member States
  • 1 to consider the creation of a national CIRT as a high priority;
  • 2 to collaborate with other Member States and with Sector Members,
• invites Member States and Sector Members
  • to cooperate closely with ITU-T and ITU-D in this regard.