Ireland and Georgia pledge cooperation in cybercrime and security
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Operative-Technical Agency and the National University of Ireland concerning cooperation in cybercrime investigation and digital forensic. Photo:State Security Service
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A delegation of the Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Investigative Research Centre of the National University of Ireland is paying an official visit to the State Security Service of Georgia today.
Meetings have been held between the head of the Operative-Technical Agency Koba Kobidze and his deputies with the Irish delegation, in addition to specialists in cybersecurity, cybercrime investigation and digital forensics.
The delegation was introduced to the achievements and opportunities of the Operative-Technical Agency in the field of cybercrime and digital forensics.
A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the Operative-Technical Agency and the National University of Ireland concerning cooperation in cybercrime investigation and digital forensics, including trainings, exchange visits, study programmes, the exchange of scientific research and consultation services.
The Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Investigative Research Centre of the National University of Ireland is one of the leading research centres in the European Union in the field. The Operative-Technical Agency is the first state agency in the Caucasus region to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Investigative Research Centre of the National University of Ireland.
Head of the Georgian State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelauri and Director of Classified Information Security Directorate of Albania Dorian Tola have signed an agreement on the exchange and mutual protection of classified information today in Tbilisi.
Georgia and Germany have signed an agreement today on the Exchange and Mutual Protection of Classified Information.
Georgia together with the countries from the Eastern Partnership Region, South-eastern Europe and Turkey are making progress in the investigation of cybercrime by establishing closer links between professional communities of cybercrime investigators.
An international cybercrime syndicate has been squashed after Georgia’s Interior Ministry uncovered more than a quarter of a million US dollars had been fraudulently obtained by online criminals.
Georgian Defence Minister Levan Izoria has declared 2019 as the year of cyber security in the Georgian Armed Forces.
Georgia has been ranked ninth in Europe in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2018, which is a composite index produced, analysed and published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to measure the commitment of its 194 member states to cybersecurity in order to raise cybersecurity awareness.
Georgian law enforcers have detained one Georgian and two Turkish citizens for the illegal use of computer data and stealing $73,000 from the accounts of two key banks in Georgia - TBC and Bank of Georgia. The detainees face two to 10 years in prison. The Interior Ministry said that the case was solved with the close cooperation with banks.
3,000 IT specialists will be retrained as a part of a programme supported by the World Bank. The programme’s budget is 7 million lari ($2,495,543/ €2,212,898). The tender to retrain the specialists was announced earlier today at the Courtyard Marriott. The free course will be launched in autumn 2019.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has stated that on October 28, 2019, the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Main Center for Special Technologies carried out a ‘widespread, disruptive cyber attack’ against web pages and servers of Georgian governmental agencies, court and media organisations.“The attack caused serious damage to the web pages and servers. The cyberattack aimed to undermine Georgia’s national security, harming the Georgian population, disrupting the functioning of government agencies, as well as various organizations, and stirring commotion in public."
Georgian and Irish Parliament Speakers Archil Talakvadze and Seán Ó Fearghaíl held a remote meeting earlier today pledging to deepen their countries’ ties.