On July 23 the Armenian Center for National and International Studies headed by Richard Giragoisan organized a seminar on the problems of information security due to the recent Arab hackers’ cracks of Armenian websites, particularly those of leading Internet provider Arminco. Giragosian pointed out that there is an information war in cyber space and the only advantage is that computers and websites, not people are the victims. He supposes that information security is directly connected with national security. “If foreign hackers can crack the server of governmental sites, banking and key state structures’ database, entire official correspondence and the governmental mails, they get a strong instrument against our country.”

“To what extent our country is ready for that attack?” Giragosian wonders. According to him, the National Security Council headed by Artur Bagdasaryan is not capable of providing a requisite cyber security. “The fact that last week many of our sites were cracked, does not mean we are weak,” he stated. Every country is able to protect itself, however hackers are always one step ahead of well prepared authorities. He kept informed that some attacks were not repulsed by the authorities deliberately so as the intruders are detected. Thus we should not “underestimate the authorities’ tactics.”

Another aspect of national security is the control over Internet, that our authorities fail to take into account while developing foreign-policy strategy. The expert underlined that Turkish side touched upon the Internet issue during the Armenia-Turkey negotiations. Turkish TurkCell provider will enter Armenian market after Armenian-Turkish border is opened. “How will Armenian Government respond and how it intends to solve the national security issue if Turks attempt to partially control the Internet?” said Giragosian, outlining that while the information security in Armenia is provided by Armenian authorities, that industry in Karabakh is not considered yet.

“What if Azerbaijan tries to take control over Karabakh Internet? While Cyber security is more developed in Armenia than in Azerbaijan, our country is in better position in the region. Thus, more sources should be rendered for the development of this field: recruit skillful personnel and provide security more efficiently. The Armenian Center for National and International Studies has developed initial plan on these issues’ accomplishment and plans to appeal to Armenian Government, particularly to Defense Ministry, National Security Council and the President,” he informed.