Joining forces in the fight against cybercrime: Dutch Ambassador-at-large for Cyber Affairs
WVR - Counteracting the global increase of cybercrime requires strong collaboration at both the national and international level. Cyber is one of the key priorities of the Netherlands.
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| Ambassador-at-large for Cyber Affairs of the Netherlands Ernst Noorman. (Source: Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam) |
That is the comment of Ambassador-at-large for Cyber Affairs of the Netherlands Ernst Noorman in the exclusive interview with The World & Vietnam Report on the occasion of the Signing Ceremony of the United Nations (UN) Convention against Cybercrime.
Dear Your Excellency, what are your comments on the significance of the signing the UN Convention against Cybercrime in the current context?
First of all, I would like to express my appreciation to Vietnam for hosting the signing ceremony for the UN Convention Against Cybercrime, which also highlights Vietnam’s rising role on the international stage.
The fight against cybercrime is important for The Netherlands: cybercrime knows no borders and impacts all of our societies at different levels. From more sophisticated scams to ransomware-as-a-service: cybercrime causes increasing economic costs and risks for individuals and organisations, such as identity theft, fraud and data breaches.
This new UN Convention will provide us with an additional framework for international cooperation in the area of criminal law, focusing on cybercrime offences and procedural powers that also include necessary human rights safeguards.
In particular, the Convention will offer major added value for the global fight against child sexual abuse material. This enables a global response to one of the most awful borderless crimes that we are currently facing.
Could you please assess the theme of the signing ceremony proposed by Vietnam - “Countering Cybercrime – Sharing Responsibility – Securing Our Future”?
The theme of the signing ceremony reflects the scope of this Convention: combatting cybercrime through a clearly defined scope of criminalisation, and sharing responsibility through international cooperation. Think of cooperation on sharing of electronic evidence, but also to joint initiatives prevention, capacity building and legal assistance.
Take for instance fraud: while cyber criminals operate quickly across digital and physical borders, requests for investigative information do not. This is a huge problem for all of us. If we have to wait weeks, the damage will already have been done, and the victims will not have been helped.
That is why international cooperation is essential. The UN Convention on Cybercrime will help fasten this process between law enforcement agencies, providing a solid basis for international cooperation between law enforcement agencies and legal authorities.
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| Secretary-General of ASEAN Kao Kim Hourn met Ambassador Ernst Noorman on the sidelines of the 10th ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Cybersecurity (AMCC), in Singapore, October 22, 2025. (Source: asean.org) |
What are the outstanding achievements of the Vietnam-Netherlands cooperation in responding to cybercrime challenges?
The Netherlands has been a Development Partner of ASEAN since 2023 and cyber is one of the key priorities in this partnership. Since 2023, the Netherlands has invested in various activities that strengthen the cyber capacities of ASEAN Member States and we are lucky to collaborate with countries like Singapore, Australia and Japan in organising these activities.
One example is the Southeast Asia Cyber Policy Roundtables, which the Netherlands co-organises with the Singapore Cyber Security Agency at the ASEAN Singapore Cyber Center of Excellence. The next edition will already be in November and, of course, Vietnam is invited to participate in this multistakeholder event.
Could you share some effective practices in Netherlands in combating cybercrime?
Counteracting the global increase of cybercrime requires strong collaboration at both the national and international level. Dutch diplomatic efforts in respect of cybercrime prevention focus primarily on denying safe havens to cybercriminal groups in accordance with the UN normative framework. Capacity building is also essential here: The Netherlands is working with other countries to strengthen their capacity to address cybercrime, for example as donor of UNODC’s Global Programme on Cybercrime.
At a national level, a whole-of-government approach and strong public-private collaboration remains vital for combating cybercrime. A notable Dutch example in this regard is the Melissa-project, which is a partnership between public and private cybersecurity organisations to combat ransomware. These organisations regularly exchange information about ransomware and identify trends and developments.
Finally, to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime, it is important to increase citizens' digital resilience by strengthening their basic online resilience. Actively informing and supporting victims by offering them courses of action is crucial for limiting harm and preventing re-victimization.
It is equally important to prevent people from becoming cyber criminals through targeted interventions to discourage cybercrime and reduce recidivism. An example of this is the Hack_Right project, which targets young people convicted of a cybercrime. In this intervention, private and public organizations collaborate to prevent recidivism and further develop young people's cyber talent in accordance with the law.
Thank you, Ambassador!
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| Ambassador Ernst Noorman and the Vietnamese interdisciplinary delegation in the Netherlands, September 2024. (Source: cand.com.vn) |
