Submission The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland welcomes the opportunity to respond to General Assembly resolution 71/28 entitled “Developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security”. This submission builds on the United Kingdom’s previous responses including the General Assembly resolution 70/237 in 2016. “General appreciation of the issues of information security” The United Kingdom continues to reiterate it will use its preferred terminology of ‘cyber security’ and related concepts throughout this submission. ‘Cyber security’ denotes efforts aimed at the preservation of confidentiality, availability and integrity of information in cyberspace, including the internet and other networks and forms of digital communication. The term ‘information security’ may cause potential confusion as it is used by some countries and organisations as part of doctrine regarding information itself as a threat against which additional protection is needed. The United Kingdom does not recognise the validity of ‘information security’ when used in this context since it could be employed in attempts to legitimise controls on freedom of expression beyond the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right (ICCPR). The actual and potential threats posed by malicious activities in cyberspace continue to raise concerns in the United Kingdom. Like many countries, our reliance on cyberspace as a fundamental element of critical infrastructure means that significant failure due to an incident or attack could cause severe disruption, economic damage or loss of life. We identified an increase in three trends that will require further consideration by the global community: states use of proxy actors for malicious cyber activity; the growing use by states of cyber capabilities with other techniques to achieve so-called hybrid attacks; and, the cumulative, destabilising effect of persistent, lower impact, state-sponsored cyber-attacks on a victim state or states. Cyber security provides an essential foundation for activity online, enabling significant opportunities for economic and social development and growth. All parts of society have a role and duty in countering cyber threats. Given the majority of cyberspace’s infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector, continued engagement with them and other stakeholders is crucial. It is also important to ensure cyber security efforts are not used to impose restrictions on freedom of expression beyond those in accordance with the UDHR and ICCPR. The United Kingdom supports the Human Rights Council’s resolution 20/8, issued in 2012, which states the rights people enjoy offline, must also be protected online. The role of civil society organisations to ensure accountability and continued protection for human rights online is therefore particularly important. “Efforts taken at the national level to strengthen information security and promote international cooperation in this field.” National approaches The United Kingdom first published a National Cyber Strategy in 2011. In October 2016, a second edition issued, supported by funding of £1.9bn, outlining UK goals for the continued shaping and investment in cyber security over another five-year term. The current strategy defines our vision and ambition to be secure and resilient to cyber threats as well as prosperous and confident in a digital world. We will continue to pursue 3