Public international law of the international telecommunication instruments: cyber security treaty provisions since 1850

Purpose This paper aims to describe the history of cyber security public international law since 1850 that is found in treaty instruments developed by the signatory nations of what is now known as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Because of the esoteric nature of the subject and, until recently, the very difficult access to reference materials, knowledge of these provisions was confined to a handful of scholars. Design/methodology/approach To prepare this article, it was necessary to download the entire new ITU History Portal collection of treaty instruments, adding the US archive collection scans of missing documents, conversion to plain text, identification and linking of key provisions across time, detecting the differences, and then pursuing related material to find out why the text arose. Findings What the material reveals is a 150‐year history of cybersecurity law that is not only relevant to significant developments today, but also controlling as a set of obligations that virtually every nation has accepted. Research limitations/implications It is hoped that this article will not only be helpful going forward in dealing with the difficult challenges of evolving these provisions, but will also serve as a kind of template for a new generation that not only questions authority, but also appreciates the value of source materials, accessing them, and doing the necessary analysis rather than just visiting a search engine. Originality/value The history of the cyber security public international law in the international telecommunication treaty instruments has never been compiled before.