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30.01.2012

ARMENIA IS BECOMING VULNERABLE TO CYBER-ATTACKS

   

Samvel Martirosyan

Expert, “Norvanak” Foudnation, Center for Information Studies

An unprecedented upsurge of the number of Internet users has been observed in Armenia for recent one or two years and it is conditioned by both slashing of the prices for Internet connection and the fact that computers and mobile devices became more affordable. Thus the possibility of the threats connected with the cyber-security of Armenia has also increased.

Growth Rate of the Internet Users

The growth of the number of the Internet users in Armenia is conditioned by several factors:

  • Internet connection price abatement on the international market;
  • Liberalization of telecommunication technology sphere on the domestic market and tariff reduction;
  • popularization of the credit purchase of computers and mobile devices;
  • growth of the interest among the public

All these resulted in wholesale internet price slashing. If in 2008 wholesale price for 1Mbit Internet connection constituted 1.2 million AMD, in 2011 it reduced to 50 thousand AMD (Diagram 1).

Diagram 1. Price for 1Mbit Internet

Such developments resulted in growth of the number of users. If in 2008 the number of the users was 80 thousand, in 2011 their number surpassed 340 thousand. If in 2008 the number of Broad Band WL users reached 14 thousand, in 2011 most of the users used fast connection (more than 330 thousand Broad Band WL Internet users) (Diagram 2).

Diagram 2. Growth of the Internet users in 2008-2011

Source: The Government of Armenia http://report.gov.am/?id=10

It should be mentioned that here we speak not about people using Internet, but about the number of the Internet connection subscribers. As for the number of specifically Internet users, then it can be esteemed that at the end of 2011 there were more than 1 million users in Armenia. Thus, the Minister of Transport and Communication of Armenia Manuk Vardanyan stated in June that over the last two years the number of the Internet users in Armenia had increased six times, and constituted about 1/3 of the population of Armenia1. It can be assumed that for a half of a year this number has even grown.

Growth of the Cyber-Threats

Such an explosive growth of the number of the Internet users, besides positive consequences, also causes risks. A big army of the Internet users, which is absolutely illiterate in terms of using Internet, came forward.

People not being aware of possible threats easily become the victims of the Internet attacks. That is why Armenia is considered by the anti-virus laboratories as one of the most dangerous countries. Thus, according to Kaspersky Lab, Armenia is the third country, after Russia and Oman, the computers of the users of which are mostly attacked (Table 1).

Those attacks are the consequences of people visiting dangerous web-sites, using stolen soft, not having or updating anti-virus programmes, having no idea of other mechanisms providing security and etc.

Table 1. The most dangerous countries from the point of view of cyber-security (the percentage of the computers under the attack in the given country)

Source: Kaspersky Lab2

It means that there is a lack of the Internet education. And this problem can be observed among the representatives of all the age groups. Besides, Armenia is one of the countries where illegal, non-licensed stolen software is used (about 90% of the software is non-licensed)3. And it means that those computers are vulnerable for the attacks.

Taking into consideration the fact that Armenia enters the period of e-commerce, possible threats in the near future will only increase.

So, the sharp increase of the number of the users results in Armenia becoming a target for the cyber-criminals. And as most of the active part of the society is the Internet users we face serious challenges and the first step to handle them should be a total education.

1 http://www.mediamax.am/am/news/society/1210/

2 http://www.securelist.com/en/analysis/204792190/Monthly_Malware_Statistics_August_2011?print_mode=1

3 http://www.panarmenian.net/rus/details/57505/

“Globus National Security”, Issue 1, 2012

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