All delegates underlined the importance of the principle that governments act proportionately in cyberspace and that states should continue to comply with existing rules of international law and the traditional norms of behaviour that govern interstate relations, the use of force and armed conflict, including the settlement by states of their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace, security and justice are not endangered.

All speakers agreed that stronger co-operation and collaboration was needed to build confidence and to avoid misunderstandings.

All delegates agreed that the immediate next steps must be to take practical measures to develop shared understanding and agree common approaches and confidence-building measures through the UN Group of Government Experts and through the OSCE and other regional organisations. Some delegates noted the draft Code of Conduct circulated at the United Nations. There was no appetite at this stage to expend effort on legally-binding international instruments.

There was strong support for the recommendations of the 2010 UN Group of Government Experts on further dialogue among states to discuss norms pertaining to state use of information and communication technologies to reduce collective risk and protect critical national and international infrastructure.

Delegates welcomed the work the OSCE is also doing to develop specific confidence-building measures applicable in cyber space, and called on other regional organisations to develop their own work alongside the OSCE on this question.