A/68/156 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [Original: English] [16 May 2013] The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland welcomes the opportunity to respond to General Assembly resolution 67/27 entitled “Developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security”. General appreciation of the issues of information security The United Kingdom will use its preferred terminology of “cybersecurity” and related concepts in the present submission, denoting efforts aimed at the preservation of the confidentiality, availability and integrity of information in cyberspace. The term “information security” is often used by business and standards organizations to mean the same thing, and the term is also accepted by the United Kingdom with this specific meaning. There is scope for potential confusion in the use of the term “information security” in that it is used by some countries and organizations as part of a doctrine that regards information itself as a threat against which additional protection is needed. The United Kingdom does not recognize the validity of the term “information security” when used in this context, since it could be employed in attempts to legitimize further controls on freedom of expression beyond those agreed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Cyberspace is a domain of great opportunity but also of actual and potential threat. Over two billion people are now connected to cyberspace through the Internet, with that number set to grow further as mobile technologies allow developing countries to take advantage of its enormous benefits at lower costs. The Internet provides an engine for economic growth, opens up access to education, strengthens human interaction and understanding, breaks down cultural and geographic barriers, allows services to be delivered online and strengthens democracy by holding Governments accountable to its citizens in new and dynamic ways. For example: • Internet-based activity already accounts for eight per cent of the gross domestic product of the United Kingdom. Ensuring that businesses and customers feel secure about doing business in cyberspace is crucial to economic growth. • The United Kingdom introduced an e-petitions service in 2011, allowing anyone to open or sign a petition on an issue for which Government has responsibility. All petitions attracting 100,000 signatures or more are considered for debate in Parliament. In its first year, over 15,600 petitions were opened, of which 10 passed the 100,000 threshold. All of these have either been debated or scheduled for parliamentary debate. The United Kingdom, like many countries, relies on cyberspace in many areas of critical national services, such as energy, finance and transport. Significant failures in these services, whether accidental or as the result of a deliberate intrusion, could cause severe disruption, economic damage or loss of life. 13-39735 15