Sanctions are one of the political instruments of modern nation-states and international organizations. They are restrictive measures aimed at changing the political course of the target country, as well as influencing violators of national and international norms. When it comes to United Nations (UN) sanctions, sanctions are coercive measures to comply with international law. One of the serious international problems has become challenges in the digital environment. On the one hand, cyberspace has become an arena of competition between the leading powers. On the other hand, more and more crimes are committed in the digital environment, the rights of individuals and legal entities are violated, the security of states is undermined, national and international law is violated. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation. States are trying to solve the problems that arise in cyberspace on their own. They use unilateral economic sanctions to force countries or individuals to change their behavior, or to retaliate for wrongdoing in the digital environment. Among the most active initiators of such unilateral measures are the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA). However, EU and US sanctions are not universal. They can be used in the interests of deterrence and achieving foreign policy goals, including in relations with such states as Russia and China. This approach does not contribute to solving global problems of international information security. The scale of the existing problem and the fact that the cyber environment is becoming an arena of interstate competition actualize the issue of global regulation of the digital environment. The United Nations is the only universal institution. The UN Security Council (UNSC) has sanctions mechanisms, the implementation of which is mandatory for all member states of the Organization. The restrictive measures of the UN are applied in such areas as the problem of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. Meanwhile, the Organization does not have a mechanism for sanctions on international information security. And this happens even though its presence could increase the coordination of states, the legitimacy of the restrictive measures applied, and possibly reduce or mitigate the growing interstate competition in cyberspace. In this regard, the following research questions arise: why has such a mechanism not yet been created and what steps can be taken to create it?