FOREWORD The emergence of a global and borderless information society brings new opportunities to all countries worldwide as technologies play an even more important role in social and economic development. Services in the health, educational, business, finance and public administration sectors are possible thanks to ICT applications ICTs also bring new challenges which must be addressed if we are to securely conduct e-health transactions, enable citizens to access e-government services, provide the necessary trust for online commercial and business transactions and maintain the integrity of our information technology systems and resources. Putting in place adequate security and trust solutions is therefore one of the main challenges that the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau has to address as it pursues its efforts in assisting countries in the use of telecommunications and ICTs. The borderless nature of the information society also means that for solutions to be addressed there must be a common understanding amongst all nations of the potentials of secure ICT applications and the challenges faced in building trust and security. It is therefore imperative that in addition to working towards bridging the digital divide, we also make efforts in bridging the knowledge divide by raising basic awareness and building human and institutional capacities. The guide is intended to give developing countries a tool allowing them to better understand some of the issues relating to IT security, and provide them with examples of solutions that other countries have put in place in order to deal with these problems. It also refers to other publications giving further specific information on cybersecurity. The guide is not intended as an exhaustive document or report on the subject, but rather as a summary of the principal problems currently encountered in countries wishing to take advantage of the benefits of the information society. The content of the guide has been selected to meet the needs of developing and, in particular, least developed countries, in terms of the use of information and communication technologies for the provision of basic services in different sectors, while remaining committed to developing local potential and increasing awareness among all of the stakeholders. In order to avoid any duplication in the treatment of these subjects, the work already accomplished within the framework of ITU-T Study Group 17 was duly taken into account in elaborating the content of this publication, as were the other existing studies and publications in this area. Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid Director Telecommunication Development Bureau iv Foreword