NUMBER OF EXTREMIST SITES IN INTERNET EXCEEDS 40 THOUSAND
NOYAN TAPAN
Ju ne 24
The terrorist and extremist organizations view information
technologies as a weapon of no less destructive force than other
arms, the deputy head of the RA National Security Service, Major
General Romik Harutyunian said at an international conference held in
Yerevan on June 24. According to him, even antiglobalists use cyber
terrorism as an efficient means: during various international events,
they appeal to their supporters to make cyber attacks.
In his words, almost all terrorist and extremist organizations:
Marxists, Maoists, Islamists, fascists, chauvinists, racists,
anarchists – are currently presented in the Internet. The websites
of terrorists have become a tool of psychological war, as their main
goals are to influence human life and create an atmosphere of fear
and uncertainty among the population of the enemy state.
He said that the number of cyber attacks on information systems is
growing year by year, which shows that the terrorist and extremist
organizations are enhancing their cyber capacities. There were 7
thousand wesites of extremist character in the Internet 7-8 years ago,
whereas now their number exceeds 40 thousand.
There have been cases of cyber attacks on information systems of
Armenia as well. However, such cases were rare and cannot be compared
with cyber attacks in other countries. R. Harutyunian underlined that
it does not mean that Armenia’s information field will no become a
target of cyber terrorists in the future. Based on it, measures to
fight cyber crimes are being taken in Armenia. In particular, the
RA Criminal Code has 7 articles that envisage punishment for cyber
crimes. Besides, there are normative acts regulating and ensuring
the security of the country’s information field.