Open-Ended Working Group
The Open-Ended Working Group on Security of and in the use of Information and Communications Technologies (OEWG) is a working group formed in the United Nations to understand and regulate the use of cyberattacks and the cyberspace behaviors of states in relation to maintaining international peace and security.[1]
Overview
The OEWG is tasked with studying:
- existing and potential threats to information security
- confidence- and capacity-building measures
and developing and implementing:
- rules, norms, and principles of responsible behaviors of states
- the possibility of establishing regular open-ended institutional dialogue under the auspices of the UN.[2]
History
The groundwork for this working group's focus on cybersecurity was shepherded by the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (UN GGE) beginning in 2004. The General Assembly adopted resolution 75/240 on December 31, 2020, establishing the OEWG with a mandate from 2021 through 2025.[3] After the first substantive session of the OEWG in December 2021, the main open issue continued to be the modus of participation for non-state stakeholders. At the second substantive session, from 28 March to 1 April 2022, which was still convened in an informal mode, the group discussed existing and potential threats in the ICT sphere and data security and how international law applies to the use of ICTs by states.[4]