Presentations

   

Presentation of " Cyber Barometer Report"

On November 4, 2016 the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS) organized a presentation of Cyber Barometer Report by Senior Fellow, GFSIS, Dr. Khatuna Mshvidobadze. Acting CEO at GFSIS Dr. Eka Metreveli and Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Northern Ireland to Georgia H.E. Alexandra Hall Hall opened the event, highlighting the importance of the research for Georgia and the significance of strategic British-Georgian partnership in this field. 

Dr. Khatuna Mshvidobadze presented the key findings of the report, stating that since 2008 Georgia has taken significant steps against cyber war, still the Cyber Security Strategy and Action Plan is to be revised and achieve greater compliance with the European Convention on Cyber Crime. The statistics of the Cyber Crime Division of the Central Criminal Police Department presented in the report revealed about 200 cybercrimes registered in 2014.  The figure isn’t high for a small country like Georgia and the typology of the detected cases (hacking government computers and payboxes, cyber hooliganism, credit card cloning, child pornography) isn’t technologically sophisticated. However, Georgia must prepare for the growth of such incidences as there is a drastic increase of mobile internet subscription (totals 1.88 million as of October 2014) and  social media usage in the country. It increases the cyber threats and requires the implementation of a consistent cyber policy that needs to be prioritized at the state level, according to the report. 

The challenges for Georgia in achieving cyber security are the low level of public and governmental awareness and lack of cybersecurity professionals, resulting in inaccurate statistical methodology and underreporting of cybercrimes. 

Cyber Barometer Report makes the following recommendations: implementation of government-wide cyber security manual, review of relevant laws, capacity development of MIA and other state stakeholders, relevant trainings for government employees, assessment of cyber security key components of the private sector, launch of a public awareness program to familiarize the Georgian public with cybercrime, preventive measures and reporting procedures. Adoption of the best practices of western partners is of primary importance in this respect. As H.E. Alexandra Hall Hall said, the Embassy will present the report to Georgian Government officials to support them in cyber security policy development.

The presentation was followed by Q&A session with the engaged audience, representatives of private and public sector organizations and cyber security experts. The discussion was moderated by Amb. David Smith, Senior Fellow, GFSIS and Director of the Georgian Security Analysis Center (GSAC). 

The project was supported by the British Embassy to Georgia and the National Crime Agency (UK).

See the Cyber Barometer Report