A group of nations including the United States, China and Russia have for the first time signaled a willingness to engage in reducing the threat of attacks on each others computer networks.

It is recommended that the U.N. create norms of accepted behavior in cyberspace, exchange information on national legislation and cybersecurity strategies, and strengthen the capacity of less-developed countries to pr otect their computer systems.

For about the past decade, U.S. efforts to work with global partners in cyberspace have centered on combating crimes online. This left aside the more sensitive issues of state involvement in or responsibility for cyber intrusions into critical computer systems.

The Russians proposed a treaty in 1998 that would have banned the use of cyberspace for military purposes. But the United States has not been willing to agree to that proposal, given that the difficulty in attributing attacks makes it hard to monitor compliance.

Others in the group are Britain, France, Germany, Estonia, Belarus, Brazil, India, Israel, Italy, Qatar, South Korea and South Africa.

Ref: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071605882.html