OSCE Office in Yerevan hosts national expert workshop on cybercecurity

PanARMENIAN.Net - A national expert workshop on combating terrorist use of the Internet and comprehensively enhancing cyber-security, organized by the OSCE Action against Terrorism Unit (ATU) in co-operation with the OSCE Office in Yerevan, started in Yerevan December 8.

The Yerevan workshop addresses cyber-security in a comprehensive manner by focusing on terrorist use of the Internet, cybercrime and other threats, including those to critical infrastructures.

"Growing dependence on information technology and the interconnection of critical infrastructure have made a secure cyberspace vital to the functioning of a modern state," said Dimitar Jalnev, Programme Co-ordinator at the OSCE ATU. "Perpetrators of cyber crimes share common methods, even if their goals and motivations differ. They learn from each other and frequently work together."

The expert meeting aims to strengthen participants' skills in dealing with terrorist use of the Internet. Participants will look at the impact of potential attacks and discuss potential countermeasures, pertinent legal frameworks, lessons learned and best practices.

"A combined effort involving governments, civil society and the private sector is essential in developing effective and co-ordinated measures to counter cyber threats. State action alone is often not sufficient. Joint problems require joint solutions, including co-operation between the public and the private sector," said Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

Chief Detective Inspector Keith Verralls of New Scotland Yard stressed that co-operation with Internet service providers and other private sector actors was a prerequisite for authorities to be able to collect evidence against cybercrime perpetrators.

"The investigator is confined by geographical and jurisdictional boundaries, the terrorist is not. Physical evidence can be hard to hide, whilst computer evidence can disappear at the click of a mouse," he said.

The workshop is the third of its kind organized by the OSCE ATU. Previous workshops were held in Serbia and Croatia, OSCE website reported.