Archived Newsroom • Press Release |
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Network outage at World Conference on International Telecommunications
Disruption reinforces importance of cybersecurity
Dubai, 6 December, 2012 – Communication with one of the ITU
websites was interrupted on late Wednesday afternoon, December 5, interfering
with external access to the main ITU site and disrupting the late meeting of
Working Group 1 of Committee 5, the substantive working committee of the
WCIT-12
conference.
As a contingency measure, network traffic was redirected to a backup website
hosted in another geographical region. ITU has noted a significant increase in
network traffic generated by the worldwide attention around WCIT-12, and in
particular, the public interest in conference documents and webcasts of
conference proceedings. Some performance degradation was experienced for two
hours before normal operation was restored.
The incident blocked civil society, media and other interested parties from
following the proceedings, and prevented access to the wealth of online
information on the ITU’s WCIT home page and
Newsroom.
Some delegates were frustrated at being unable to access some of the online
working documents that were being considered by the meeting. However, a spirit
of camaraderie prevailed, with those who had access to up-to-date online
versions of the texts willingly sharing with other delegates in order to keep
discussions moving forward. Some hacker groups are claiming responsibility.
In line with ITU’s commitment to environmental responsibility, WCIT-12 is a
paperless conference, with delegates able to access the updated versions of all
texts via an online platform. The decision to dispense with six-language paper
copies of the hundreds of proposals up for discussion is saving an estimated
250,000kg of CO2 equivalent emissions. While further technical measures have
been put in place today to ensure the online system continues to function, the
conference can revert to paper processing if necessary, to ensure discussions
proceed according to the tight timetable set for negotiation of the new treaty.
WCIT-12 conference is being held to renegotiate the
International
Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs), a binding global treaty that
facilitates global interconnection and interoperability of information and
communication services. Some 2,000 delegates and over 100 local and
international press are working on the event at the Dubai World Trade Centre,
which is taking place from 3-14 December. Up to 2,000 people per session are
following the
live and
archived multilingual webcasts of the event, with an additional
estimated Twitter exposure of over 35 million people via the WCIT hashtags by
the start of the conference.
ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré said threats made against the
conference by cyber criminal groups fly in the face of the principles of freedom
of expression and unfettered access to information that the WCIT-12 conference
has been at pains to defend. “It is ironic that the very people who claim to be
fighting for a free Internet are preventing those around the world trying to
follow the event online from getting access. Do they believe in one rule for
them, and one for everyone else?”
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A full English transcript derived from the simultaneous captioning in the
meeting rooms is available for all Plenary and Committee 5 sessions at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/captioning.aspx.
Live and archived multilingual webcasts of the WCIT-12 opening ceremony,
opening press conference and all meetings of the conference Plenary and
Committee 5 over the coming two weeks are available at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/webcast.aspx
ITU is hosting a daily media briefing with the ITU Secretary-General and
other key officials recapping each day’s discussions. These briefings will take
place at 18:00 local Dubai time, accessible on any computer via the Adobe
Connect platform at:
http://itu.adobeconnect.com/wcit2012/
Speeches, daily meeting schedules and other information can be found on the
main WCIT-12 Newsroom at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/newsroom.aspx
A FAQ, a comprehensive set of Background Briefs covering the main discussion
topics and a WCIT Myth Buster presentation can be found at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/WCIT-backgroundbriefs.aspx
View videos from the meeting and download broadcast quality video footage at:
www.itu.int/en/newsroom/Pages/videos.aspx
Photos from the meeting can be downloaded at:
www.flickr.com/photos/itupictures/sets/72157632073685626/
The main conference preparatory documents can be found at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/documents.aspx
The current ITRs can be found at:
www.itu.int/oth/T3F01000001
Note to editors:
ITU is unique within the UN family in having some 700 Sector Members (mainly
from the private sector) in addition to 193 Member States. All have been
actively engaged in the WCIT-12 preparatory process, which has been underway for
some years. In addition, ITU set up
a public
consultation website open to all stakeholders in six languages
(total of 31 submissions received between 15 August-7 November, of which 29
published [and 2 rejected because of unauthorized hyperlinks]). ITU has also
held four global briefings (supporting remote participation from anywhere around
the world) open to media, analysts and civil society: those held using Adobe
Connect are archived at:
http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/media-briefings.aspx.
For more information, please contact:
Paul Conneally
Head, Communications & Partnership Promotion, ITU
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Sarah Parkes
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
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Gary Fowlie
Head, ITU
liaison Office to the United Nations
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Zara Nazim
Raee PR
Dubai Media City
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Sana Al-Lababidi
Raee PR
Dubai Media City
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Noora Al Ameri
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
United Arab Emirates
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Noor M. Shamma
Media Relations Manager
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
United Arab Emirates
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Note for media: please register in ITU’s video
newsroom for access to broadcast quality footage and news packages at
www.itu.int/en/newsroom/Pages/videos.aspx.
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