International Cyber Security Week to be held in Azerbaijan

In order to enhance the effectiveness of coordinated activities and awareness level, as well as general training in the field of cyber security, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies will hold the first International Cyber Security Week in Azerbaijan on March 11-15.

Within the framework of the Cyber Security Week, the Regional Internet Governance Forum (RIGF), the Hackathon Competition, the Cyber Security Solutions Seminar, the Republican Scientific and Practical Seminar “CERT Services in the Republic of Azerbaijan: Cyber Threats and Their Protection Methods”, the events on “Sustainable and Safe Cloud Environment”, “ISO 27001 certification”, etc. will be held together with relevant organizations.

It should be noted that the Cyber Security Week is held in order to solve problems in the field of cyber security arising from the “National Strategy for the Development of the Information Society in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2014-2020” and the “State Program for Implementation of the National Strategy for Development of Information Society in Azerbaijan in 2016-2020 ”, as well as the Development Concept“ Azerbaijan 2020: A Look into the Future ”, approved by relevant orders of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic.

These documents identify such basic goals as education of private and other cybersecurity bodies in the field of cyber security and formation of information security culture, protecting information processes, creating relevant technical and methodological tools to enhance cybersecurity, protecting information resources and systems from possible threats, increasing national training in the field of cybersecurity, etc.

Within the framework of the Cybersecurity Week, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will hold the 6th Regional Internet Governance Forum on the topic “Cybersecurity: our common responsibility”.

The forum aims to demonstrate different ways of using internet in order to achieve more fruitful and effective regional economic development and cultural progress. It is a platform for sharing experiences and strengthening cooperation between local participants and international experts, jointly discussing the current situation, assigned tasks in this field, issues of integration into relevant international organizations, as well as demonstrating interesting innovative projects.

The forum will involve not only local representatives, but also representatives from countries of the region and authoritative international organizations.

The event will include sessions on several issues such as “Regional Cyber Security Issues”, “Cyber Security and International Law”, “Innovative Cyber Security Solutions” and “Secure Internet for Children”.

Authorized representative of the government, business, diplomatic corps, academia, civil society, and the Internet community will take part in the discussions.

The information session Cyber Village will also be held as part of the Cyber Security Week, during which Azercell Telecom LLC will hold a presentation of trainings on the topic of secure Internet. It should be noted that at the initiative and with the organization of Azercell, these trainings for schoolchildren, parents and teachers will be organized within two weeks by the Azerbaijan Teacher Development Center in Shamkir (March 4-7) and Ganja (March 11-15).

It should be noted that Azerbaijan is an active organizer and participant of the Internet Governance Forum. Along with the organization of the 7th Internet Governance Forum in Baku in 2012, the Regional Internet Governance Forum is held annually in our country.

During the Cyber Security Week, hackathon competition will be organized by the Electronic Security Service, the Data Processing Center, Azerpost LLC and the High-Tech Park of the Ministry with the assistance of the State Administration of Radio Frequencies. The purpose of the competition is to provide solutions on a unique monitoring system for detection of interventions to information systems. To participate in the competition, you must register before March 7. You can take part in the competition both in a team or individually.

Participants must have basic knowledge of cybersecurity, sufficient knowledge and experience in at least one programming language (Python, C #, Java or Bash Scripting, etc.), as well as server operating systems (Windows Server family and Linux Servers), ability to work in a group environment and hold a presentation.

It should be noted that all interested persons (software developers, system or network administrators, etc.) can take part in this competition.

The winners of the first, second and third places will receive 4,000 AZN, 2,000 AZN, 1,000 AZN, respectively.

It is noteworthy to note that the goal of Hackathon competition, regularly held by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, is to create conditions for attracting potential talented young people into a single space, develop knowledge and skills in information technologies, solve relevant tasks in a team form, and create opportunity for interesting and innovative projects.

Microsoft’s cyber security analytical report will be presented at the cybersecurity solutions seminar, which will be held as part of the Cybersecurity Week with the support of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies. The event will provide detailed information on statistics and analysis of modern cyber threats in the world and Azerbaijan. At the same time, the tools provided for centralized intellectual analysis and monitoring of operating system logs (Windows / Linux), network devices (Router, Switch, Wi-Fi, etc.) and application programs designed for administrators and cyber security specialists will be presented.

The seminar will teach methods of protection of devices used in corporate environment from cyber threats, inventory, their updates, installation of software on them, cyber security of login and passwords, automatic classification, encryption and secure data distribution.

Within the Cyber Security Week, a training will be held on March 12-16 on the basis of the standard “Information Security ISO / IEC 27001: 2013. Security methods. Information security management systems. Requirements” with the joint organization of the Azerbaijan Standardization Institute and the ICT Application and Training Center of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies.

The objective of the training is to teach local specialists the requirements and ways of implementing the international standard adopted by ISO / IEC 27001 - Information Security Management Systems - information security management systems.

At the training, along with the study of all requirements of the international standard, an international examination will also be held to obtain the official status of an auditor to apply this standard in organizations.

As part of the training, an international examination will be held by director of the certification body of the Training and Educational Center and the management systems and personnel of the Institute of Standardization of Azerbaijan, which is registered by the IRCA (International Register of Certificated Auditors) for the implementation and audit of this international standard by local experts Saday Aliyev, and head of Esenek Training Center of the Republic of Turkey Halil Celik. Local specialists who have successfully passed this exam, will be presented with a certificate of chief auditor for the implementation of ISO 27001.

Representatives of all organizations wishing to be certified in this field can take part in the training. The participants will mainly include specialists from large ICT companies, telecommunications operators and government agencies.

The training will be held in Turkish.

On March 12, an event called “Sustainable and Safe Cloud Environment” will take place. It will provide information on business activities and cyber security solutions in the digitalization era.

The event will also include presentations on the data reservation service of the cloud provider AZCLOUD, secure cloud services, and prevention of loss of leaks of stored data.

Furthermore, within the framework of the Cyber Security Week, the Republican scientific and practical seminar “CERT services in the Republic of Azerbaijan: cyber threats and methods of their protection” will be held at the Institute of Information Technologies of ANAS on March 14. The event will discuss the achievements, the challenges ahead for the CERT services operating in the country, the exchange of information between the relevant authorities on incidents, the prospects for international cooperation, and integration into the relevant international organizations.