Overview[]
The Group of Eight (G8) is an international forum that includes the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The G20 has replaced the G8 as the main forum for international economic co-operation. The G8 will continue, although it will increasingly focus on foreign policy and development.
Cybersecurity[]
The G8’s cybersecurity efforts are directed by the G8 Subgroup on High-Tech Crime, which seeks to prevent, investigate, and prosecute crimes involving computers, networked communications, and other new technologies. In 1997, the subgroup created the 24/7 High-Tech Crime Point-of-Contact Network, which allows law enforcement officials from countries — including those from outside the G8 — to quickly contact their counterparts in other participating nations for assistance with cybercrime investigations. The network is to supplement traditional methods of obtaining law enforcement assistance. In 2004, the G8 Subgroup on High-Tech Crime also developed a best practices guide for network security to assist network operators and system administrators when responding to computer incidents.