OSCE OFFICE ORGANIZES DISCUSSION IN YEREVAN ON CYBER SECURITY THREATS
Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)
March 21 2006
YEREVAN, 21 March 2006 – Combating cyber crime and threats to cyber
security were the topic of a roundtable discussion, organized today
by the OSCE Office in Yerevan.
Experts from the Armenian Task Force on cyber crime and cyber security
presented the main challenges in the field and suggestions to improve
the situation, recommending as a first step that the country’s
Parliament ratify the 2001 Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime.
“Cyber security is strategically important for Armenia as the country
expands the IT-services sector,” said Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin,
the head of the OSCE Office.
“It is vital to protect people and businesses from financial fraud
and any attempts to alter, steal or destroy information on a computer
system. Inadequate legislation and a lack of technical preparedness
make the sector vulnerable. Fighting cyber crime is part of the
struggle against organized crime and terrorism. As such, it is an
essential component of the OSCE’s focus on countering the new threats
to security that have arisen in recent years.”
The Task Force was created in 2005 on the initiative of the OSCE
Office in Yerevan, and includes key national players in the field
— the Defence Ministry, the National Security Service, the Police,
the Central Bank, the National Assembly, as well as the Presidential
Administration. It helps raise awareness of the issue and advises on
ways of improving the legislative basis and operational measures to
effectively combat cyber crime.