Papyan: There is a serious imbalance between Armenia and Azerbaijan in cyberspace

There is no state security policy in Armenia. For instance, it is not considered as a norm for state officials to hold important meetings without bringing a phone. In contrast to our vulnerability, Azerbaijan has made serious investments in its cybercrime security. Azerbaijan has established a cybersecurity center, jointly with Israel.

In an interview with Alpha News, Cyberhub co-founder Artur Papyan has emphasized that there is a serious imbalance between Armenia and Azerbaijan in cyberspace.

“They consider the cyber sphere as a military priority, they make serious investments, while the Armenian side has obvious gaps in this field. Besides, Azerbaijan has acquired a serious cyber weapon Pegasus. Azerbaijan is an approved member of Pegasus”, Papyan says.

Arthur Papyan reminds that Pegasus is an Israeli-made spy program. He notes that their center has published the names of 12 representatives of the civil society and the media targeted by Azerbaijan.

“Now the phone of any high-ranking official or person who has access to important state secrets is probably hacked,” Artur Papyan states.

Getting access to one phone, Azerbaijan can often target other phones as well. The state should have a clear list of security measures.

“We see IT incidents which are not investigated, and we see data leaks for which people are not punished,” Papyan says.

Papyan considers the ban on the use of iPhone in Russian government departments as state propaganda. According to him, today Android devices are more targeted than iPhones. Technical and cybersecurity problems in Armenia are also caused by the shortage of specialists.

According to Artur Papyan, those with technical talents go to the IT field, leaving the public sector with serious personnel and security problems.

“Any qualified administrator, after working for some time on an uncompetitive state salary, tries to find a well-paid job in the IT field”, Papyan notes.

Startups and IT companies in Armenia are provided with huge tax benefits. According to Papyan, the state should have first invested in the development of its own IT capabilities. He states that the IT sector is not prioritized in Armenia.

The economic growth rate is only in the range of 5-6%. According to the expert, in parallel with the decline of the education quality, the needs and problems of the IT sector are growing.

Papyan believes that Armenia needs to create a cybersecurity center following the example of Georgia. Meanwhile, in Armenia today, there is no system of either punishment or encouragement of people in this field.