ITU's objectives :

• To foster international cooperation in the field of Spam and Internet security

• To provide a platform for the creation of harmonized policy frameworks

• To provide reliable information and data and offer a platform to facilitate discussion and exchange of experiences.

• To identify gaps in communication security standards work and promote efforts to address those gap

Spam has become a major concern, in particular with the increase of phishing and other fraudulent activities. Spam has also important consequences in countries that have a limited available bandwidth.

• ITU facilitates the exchange of best practices between developed and developing countries, regulators, private sector and civil society on Spam in order to create harmonized legal frameworks.

• In the area of standardization, ITU develops technical recommendations.

• More information on ITU activities on countering Spam web site

• Spam Laws and Authorities web site : A platform for anti-spam laws worldwide and a list of enforcement authorities

• International cooperation data-base on international projects currently being developed or implemented to fight spam

• Publication of security manual on “security in telecommunication and information technology”

• Publication of a catalogue of the approved security recommendations

• Publication of a compendium of approved security definitions with a view to establish a common understanding and use of security terms

• Production of tutorials on network application programs.

There have been many attacks to communication systems and the number of incidents caused by worms and viruses are increasing. Cyberspace users are very interested in how to enhance the protection level of their cyber life and how to prevent problems from various kind of threats. Many experts need to know how to properly operate equipment for their network safety.

Besides technical aspects, ITU provides an international forum for standardization. Intensive work is being carried out on processes for distribution, sharing and disclosure of vulnerability information, standard procedure for incident handling operations in cyberspace and strategy for protection of network infrastructures. More information on :

- ITU initiatives related to cybersecurity web site

- ITU/T study Group 17 on telecommunication security

ITU provides assistance at national and regional levels in the elaboration of appropriate legislative frameworks for building trust and confidence in ICTs. ITU’s work includes:

• Projects using advanced security and trust technologies based on Public Key Infrastructure (including biometric authentification, smart cards and digital signature).

• National and regional workshops to share information and best practices in security and trust technologies and policies.
  (IP based network security, security management, mobile security, biometric authentication).