A. Producing an Overarching Cybercrime Policy & Strategy
The basis for any good approach to cybercrime is the development of effective policies based on
stakeholder consultations, and which include comprehensive strategies and actions plans.
Such policies, strategies and action plans might include the following elements:
1 Engaged decision-makers. It is essential that decision-makers in government and affected
organizations understand both the varied risks and the corresponding options, and that they
manage to agree on setting strategic priorities.
2 Synergistic cybersecurity strategies. Cybercrime and cybersecurity strategies are interrelated
and mutually reinforcing. As such, synergies and links must be explicitly identified, ensuring
coherence.
3 Multi-stakeholder participation in strategy elaboration. As cybercrime and cybersecurity
implicate the entirety of society, part of the challenge in developing effective policies and
strategies is ensuring the active participation of diverse stakeholders from both the public and
private sectors.
4 Approaches support human rights and rule of law requirements. A criminal justice response
to cybercrime implies a rule of law rationale; as such, rule of law requirements need to be
respected and promoted as do general respect and promotion of human rights. As discussed
(see section 4 A and 4 B, below), an appropriate balance between combatting crime and
ensuring human-rights safeguards is central to the success of any strategy.
5 Cybercrime strategies require vertical and horizontal management. Once a cybercrime
policy has been developed, the implementation of the ensuing cybercrime strategy begins.
That implementation process is a complex one, involving many stakeholders and actors.
Effective operationalization requires good management, both vertically and horizontally, clear
information sharing and extensive coordination. The progress, results and impact must all be
assessed in order to for any corrective measures to take effect, as well as to justify the allocation
of resources.
6 Concerted alignment of donor contributions and partner cooperation. The development of
a clear cybercrime policy, and subsequent implementation of the resulting cybercrime strategy,
create a clear path for donors and other partners to provide support. Doing so will increasingly
crystalize and clarify the anticipated change process that is desired. Moreover, encouraging
such cooperation can lead to faster learning of lessons.
Page 48 | Chapter 1 | § D. Framework for a Capacity-building Program
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