A/72/315 I. Introduction 1. On 5 December 2016, the General Assembly adopted resolution 71/28 on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security. In paragraph 3 of the resolution, the Assembly invited all Member States, taking into account the assessments and recommendations contained in the report of the Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security (A/70/174), to continue to inform the Secretary-General of their views and assessments on the following questions: (a) General appreciation of the issues of information security; (b) Efforts taken at the national level to strengthen information security and promote international cooperation in this field; (c) The content of the concepts mentioned in paragraph 2 of the resolution; (d) Possible measures that could be taken by the international community to strengthen information security at the global level. 2. Pursuant to that request, on 16 February 2017 a note verbale was sent to all Member States inviting them to provide information on the subject, followed by a further note verbale dated 12 June 2017. The replies received at the time of reporting are contained in section II. Additional replies received after 31 July 2017 will be posted on the website of the Office for Disarmament Affairs (www.un.org/disarmament/) in the original language. II. Replies received from Governments Afghanistan [Original: English] [26 May 2017] The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has reported the following in reference to operative paragraph 3 of General Assembly resolution 71/28 on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security. Achievements To promote the international security of information technology and the authenticity of electronic transactions, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has established a public key infrastructure device. The Ministry has also created the NOC system and intends to connect this system with the system of the Member States for identification and verification purposes of the ongoing statistics and data flow on the Internet. The Ministry has drafted cybercrime laws and has sent them to the Mi nistry of Justice for consideration. For fundamental solutions, in light of these laws, more secure electronic deals can be made and cybercrime can be prevented. The Ministry has created a national cyberstrategy to exchange secure information, establish an information technology security framework for the NIXA project that will be implemented by the Ministry, and address and identify cybercrime. 17-13876 3/25