ITU Workshop on
“Countering and Combating Spam”
(Durban, South Africa, 8 July 2013)
Outcome of WTSA-12 on spam
Xiaoya Yang,
Head, WTSA Programmes Division
ITU-TSB
xiaoya.yang@itu.int
Durban, South Africa, 8 July 2013
Overview
ITU mandate on countering and
combating spam
WTSA-12 Resolution 52
What’s addressed by Res. 52?
What’s new from Dubai 2012?
Conclusions
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Relevant ITU mandate
World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly
Resolution 52 ‘Countering and combating spam’
WTSA-04 (Florianópolis, 2004), WTSA-08 (Johannesburg, 2008) and
WTSA-12 (Dubai, 2012)
World Telecommunication Development Conference
Resolution 45 ‘mechanisms for enhancing cooperation on
cybersecurity, including countering and combating spam’
WTDC-06 (Doha, 2006), WTDC-10 (Hyderabad, 2010)
Noting c) that the enormous increase in spam is a significant and
growing problem for users, networks and the Internet as a whole, and
that the issue of cybersecurity should be addressed at appropriate
national, regional and international levels, with the aim of combating
spam, in particular criminal spam;
instructs the Secretary-General and the Directors of the Bureaux to
work toward a MoU among interested Member States to strengthen
cybersecurity and combat cyberthreats…
invites Member States and Sector Members to recognize cybersecurity,
including countering and combating spam, as a high-priority item and
to take appropriate action and contribute…
Durban, South Africa, 8 July 2013
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Relevant ITU mandate
ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (Guadalajara,
2010) Resolution 130 ‘Strengthening the role of
ITU in building confidence and security in the use
of ICTs’
noting C) that although there are no universally agreed
upon definitions of spam and other terms in this sphere,
spam was characterized by ITU-T Study Group 2, at its
June 2006 session, as a term commonly used to describe
unsolicited electronic bulk communications over e-mail or
mobile messaging (SMS, MMS), usually with the objective
of marketing commercial products or services;
instructs the Secretary-General and the Directors of the
Bureaux to work toward a MoU among interested Member
States to strengthen cybersecurity and combat
cyberthreats…
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Relevant ITU mandate
ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (Guadalajara,
2010) Resolution 174 ‘ITU’s role with regard to
international public policy issues relating to the
risk of illicit use of ICTs’
Reference to WTSA Resolution 52 ‘Countering and combating spam’ and
WTDC Resolution 45 ‘Mechanisms for enhancing cooperation on
cybersecurity, including countering and combating spam’
Instructs Secretary-General
to maintain the role of ITU to cooperate within its mandate with
other UN bodies in combating the illicit use of ICTs
To collect best practices of actions taken by Member States to
prevent the illicit use of ICTs and to provide assistance to interested
Member States
To report to Council and PP-14
Invites Member states and relevant ICT stakeholders to pursue their
dialogue at the regional and national levels in order to find mutually
acceptable solutions.
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WTSA-12 Resolution 52
Countering and combating spam
In existence since 2004 (Florianopolis)
Several amendments proposed to
WSTA-12 on Res. 52 by
Canada, Brazil and Arab States.
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WTSA-12 Resolution 52
Countering and combating spam
Recognizes that a comprehensive
approach to combating spam is
advocated, namely:
i) strong legislation
ii) the development of technical measures
iii) the establishment of industry partnerships to accelerate
the studies
iv) education
v) international cooperation
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WTSA-12 Resolution 52
Considers
a) that exchanging e-mails and other
telecommunications over the Internet has
become one of the main means of
communication between people around the
world;
b) that there are currently a variety of
definitions for the term “spam”;
c) that spam has become a widespread problem
causing potential loss of revenue to Internet
service providers, telecommunication operators,
mobile telecommunication operators and
business users
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WTSA-12 Resolution 52
d) that countering spam by technical means
burdens affected entities, including network
operators, and service providers as well as users
who unwillingly receive such spam, with significant
investments in networks, facilities, terminal
equipment and applications;
e) that spam creates problems of information and
telecommunication network security, and is
increasingly being used as a vehicle for phishing
and spreading viruses, worms, spyware and other
forms of malware, etc.;
f) that spamming is used for criminal, fraudulent or
deceptive activities;
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WTSA-12 Resolution 52
g) that spam is a global problem that requires
international cooperation in order to find solutions;
h) that addressing the issue of spam is a matter of
urgency;
i) that many countries, in particular developing
countries, need help when it comes to countering
spam;
j) that relevant ITU-T Recommendations and
relevant information from other international
bodies are available which could provide guidance
for future development in this area, particularly
with regard to lessons learned;
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WTSA-12 Resolution 52
Key amendments
k) that technical measures to counter spam
represent one of those approaches mentioned in
recognizing further above,
Notes
the important technical work carried out to
date in SG17 and in particular Recs. ITU-T,
X.1240, X.1241, X.1242, X.1243, X.1244, and
X.1245
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WTSA-12 Resolution 52
resolves to instruct the relevant
study groups
to continue to support ongoing work, in particular in SG17,
related to countering spam (e.g., e-mail) and to accelerate
its work on spam in order to address existing and future
threats within the remit and expertise of ITU T, as
appropriate;
to continue collaboration with the relevant organizations
(e.g., the IETF), in order to continue developing, as a
matter of urgency, technical Recommendations with a view
to exchanging best practices and disseminating information
through joint workshops, training sessions, etc.,
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WTSA-12 Resolution 52
Key amendments
Instruct TSB Director
to initiate a study – including sending a
questionnaire to the ITU Membership –indicating
the volume, types (e.g., email spam, SMS spam,
spam in IP-based multimedia applications) and
features (e.g., different major routes and
sources) of spam traffic, to help Member States
and relevant operating agencies to identify such
routes and sources and volumes, and in
estimating the amount of investment in facilities
and other technical means to counter and
combat such spam, taking into account work
that has already been carried out;
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WTSA-12 Resolution 52
Key amendments
further invites Member States
to take appropriate steps to ensure that
appropriate and effective measures are
taken within their national and legal
frameworks to combat spam and its
propagation.
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TSB Action Plan on WTSA-12 Res. 52
ITU-T SGs, particular SG17, to accelerate their work on
spam.
ITU-T SGs to collaborate with other relevant organizations to
develop Recommendations with a view to exchanging best
practices;
SG17, through Question 5/17 ”Countering spam by technical
means”, has approved 5 Recommendations and 7 Supplements.
Two additional texts are under development.
participate in workshops, training sessions, etc.
The ITU spam workshop is a tool to implement Res. 52.
SG17 is studying the questionnaire/study on spam.
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