At a session of the National Assembly on October 1, Armenian Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan reiterated the need to create a special independent body for cybersecurity.
The new body is to be established by the parliament. It will consist of a five-member commission, which must also be elected by the National Assembly.
The minister believes that this body should be staffed by highly qualified and capable specialists and experts. “Cybersecurity is a significant component in terms of national security threats,” Hayrapetyan noted.
There are plans to establish appropriate cybersecurity structures within government agencies and the private sector. A cybersecurity service system is also planned. According to a government spokesperson, all of this must comply with international standards. “In the first stage, we plan to implement the system by involving companies with critical infrastructure,” the official added.
The purpose of this legislative package is to create a legal framework for the protection of information systems and critical infrastructure. As the minister noted, this includes the energy, transport, and financial sectors. All must be protected from potential cyberattacks.
The State Autonomous Cybersecurity Authority will monitor, assess risks, and coordinate incident response measures. Its legal framework will cover issues related to the uninterrupted operation of information systems and critical information infrastructure used to provide vital services, as well as ensuring the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of processed, distributed, stored, and transmitted information; notification, prevention, and resolution of cyber incidents; requirements for cybersecurity service providers; and compliance with applicable laws.
The legislative package will also clarify the powers of the body responsible for developing state policy in the field of cybersecurity. This applies specifically to the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia.
To ensure the security of the state information system, the autonomous authority will be tasked with restricting the use of state information systems and limiting the volume of data exchange.
To achieve these goals and objectives, 4-6 billion drams will be allocated annually from the state budget.
The legislative initiative was generally received positively. However, opposition MPs expressed a number of doubts. They believed that under the current government, any initiative, even the most positive, could either fail or be distorted to the point of serving the interests of the authorities rather than society.