Impacted Domains: Cyber, Reputation
Impacted Industries: All Industries
Date: October 27, 2025

The upcoming UN Cybercrime Treaty — set to be signed in Hanoi — faces growing criticism for potentially criminalizing ethical hacking and security research, raising global concerns about its chilling effect on innovation and cross-border cybersecurity collaboration (Business Times, Oct 27, 2025).

So What:
The treaty’s broad and ambiguous definitions could expose organizations to legal and reputational risk for legitimate vulnerability testing, bug bounty programs, and red-team operations. This uncertainty undermines trust between companies and security researchers, increasing operational blind spots at a time when threat activity is accelerating.

Risk Value:
$2M–$80M for mid-to-large enterprises in litigation, enforcement exposure, and reputational fallout.

Mitigation Cost:
$60K–$320K for small/midsize firms for legal review, program updates, and compliance readiness.

What to Do:

• Suspend or update bug-bounty and red-team programs pending clarity on treaty interpretation.

• Conduct legal reviews of research contracts, NDAs, and safe-harbor agreements to ensure protection.

• Establish audit trails documenting authorization, scope, and compliance for all security testing activity.

• Engage industry coalitions to advocate for explicit protections of ethical and authorized cybersecurity research.

Risk AIQ Score: 6

🔗 Business Times — UN Cybercrime Treaty to Be Signed in Hanoi