A/67/167 We believe that the first task for States that wish to promote electronic commerce and governance should be to develop legal frameworks based on international standards that have been previously adopted by other States and are widely accepted, while also creating a hostile environment for criminals and terrorists who use these resources to carry out their activities. Only those countries that adopt legal and technical protective measures can hope to reap the economic benefits of providing an enabling environment for electronic commerce and governance. At the same time, efforts should continue to develop technologies and policies that defend States’ cyberspace, where the interests of different countries meet, through national cybersecurity strategies that can be implemented within clearly defined and realistic time frames. In addition to contributing to international peace, these strategies should be aimed at conserving countries’ national security and stability. Panama has taken the following measures at the national level to strengthen information security and contribute to international cooperation: (a) Establishment of the Computer Security Incident Response Team, by Executive Order No. 709 of 26 September 2011; (b) Amendment of the substantive law (Criminal Code) to incorporate new criminal offences related to cybercrime and its subsequent submission to the National Assembly for adoption (Bill No. 377); (c) Discussion and amendment of the Code of Criminal Procedure in order to align it with the new offences added to the Criminal Code; (d) Establishment of a working group to discuss the responsibility of Internet service providers in the sphere of information security, headed by the National Authority for Government Innovation and the National Public Services Authority. There is also discussion of implementing the outcome of the group’s deliberations at the regional level (the Technical Commission for Telecommunications in Central America/International Telecommunication Union) through national regulators in the Central American region; (e) Establishment of a working group on handling digital evidence, headed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and with the participation of the National Authority for Government Innovation; (f) Formal request for technical assistance to the Organization of American States (OAS) to develop the inter-American cybersecurity strategy; (g) Advanced training in incident handling facilitated by the OAS/CERT Coordination Centre (CERT-CC), carried out in Panama in April; (h) Evaluation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) proposal for a programme to build Panama’s capacity to combat cybercrime; (i) Regular participation in the Meetings of Ministers of Justice or Other Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas and meetings of the OAS Inter-American Committee against Terrorism; (j) Formal request for accession to the Convention on Cybercrime made by note verbale of 31 January 2012, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Carlos Arosemena, Ambassador of Panama in Brussels. 12 12-43414

Select target paragraph3