Resolution adopted by the General Assembly  on 17 December 2018          [on the report of the Third Committee (A/73/590)]       73/187. Countering the use of information and communications  technologies for criminal purposes        The General Assembly,     Noting that information and communications technologies, while having  enormous potential for the development of States, create new opportunities for  criminals and lead to a rise in crime,     Noting also the potential of emerging technologies, including artificial  intelligence, in preventing and combating the use of information and communications  technologies for criminal purposes,     Concerned by the increase in the rate and diversity of crimes committed in the  digital world and their impact on the stability of critical infrastructure of States and  enterprises and on the well-being of individuals,     Recognizing that diverse criminals, including traffickers in persons, are taking  advantage of information and communications technologies to carry out criminal  activities,     Stressing the need to enhance coordination and cooperation among States in  combating the use of information and communications technologies for criminal  purposes, including by providing technical assistance to developing countries, upon  their request, to improve national legislation and build the capacity of national  authorities to deal with such use in all its forms, including its prevention, detection,  investigation and prosecution, and emphasizing in this context the role that the United  Nations, in particular the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,  plays,     Recalling Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice resolution  22/8 of 26 April 2013,1 in which the Commission welcomed the efforts of the United  __________________    1  See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2013, Supplement No. 10 (E/2013/30),  chap. I, sect. D.    A/RES/73/187  Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes   18-22283 2/3    Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in fulfilling its mandate to provide technical  assistance and capacity-building on cybercrime,     Noting the work, carried out by the Commission on Crime Prevention and  Criminal Justice, under the auspices of which an open-ended intergovernmental  expert group was established to counter the use of information and communications  technologies for criminal purposes,     Recalling its resolution 65/230 of 21 December 2010, in which the General  Assembly endorsed the Salvador Declaration on Comprehensive Strategies for Global  Challenges: Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Systems and Their Development  in a Changing World,     Considering the discussions held during the first to fourth meetings of the open- ended intergovernmental expert group, held in Vienna from 17 to 21 January 2011,  25 to 28 February 2013, 10 to 13 April 2017 and 3 to 5 April 2018, about the need to  further enhance international discussion on and cooperation against cybercrime,     Noting the importance of the international and regional instruments in the fight  against cybercrime and the ongoing efforts to examine options to strengthen existing  and propose new national and international legal or other responses to the use of  information and communications technologies for criminal purposes,     Recalling its resolutions 53/70 of 4 December 1998, 54/49 of 1 December 1999,  55/28 of 20 November 2000, 56/19 of 29 November 2001, 57/53 of 22 November  2002, 58/32 of 8 December 2003, 59/61 of 3 December 2004, 60/45 of 8 December  2005, 61/54 of 6 December 2006, 62/17 of 5 December 2007, 63/37 of 2 December  2008, 64/25 of 2 December 2009, 65/41 of 8 December 2010, 66/24 of 2 December  2011, 66/181 of 19 December 2011, 67/27 of 3 December 2012, 68/193 of  18 December 2013, 68/243 of 27 December 2013, 69/28 of 2 December 2014, 70/237  of 23 December 2015, 71/28 of 5 December 2016 and 72/196 of 19 December 2017,     Taking note of the reports of the Group of Governmental Experts on  Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of  International Security,2     Taking note also of Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice  resolution 26/4 of 26 May 2017,3 in which the Commission expressed appreciation  for the work done by the Expert Group to Conduct a Comprehensive Study on  Cybercrime and requested the Expert Group to continue its work, with a view to  examining options to strengthen existing responses and propose new national and  international legal or other responses to cybercrime,     Reaffirming the importance of respect for human rights and fundamental  freedoms in the use of information and communications technologies,     1.  Requests the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on the  challenges that they face in countering the use of information and communications  technologies for criminal purposes and to present a report based on those views for  consideration by the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session;     2.  Decides that the additional costs that may arise from the implementation  of paragraph 1 of the present resolution should be met from voluntary contributions;   __________________    2  A/65/201, A/68/98 and A/70/174.     3  See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2017, Supplement No. 10 (E/2017/30),  chap. I, sect. D.    Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes  A/RES/73/187   3/3 18-22283      3.  Also decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-fourth  session an item entitled “Countering the use of information and communications  technologies for criminal purposes”.