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The public is unaware about the problems they may face in case of failing to protect their personal data, Information Security analyst Samvel Martirosyan told a press conference today in Yerevan. The expert says the online safety problems are growing in the country.

“If we analyze the dynamics of the cybercrime over the past year, we should register a quality growth in Armenia. Some years ago cyber attacks were of mixed nature, people usually got viruses transmitted from USB drives, while the situation is different today. Armenia’s population suffers significant economic losses, since CryptoLockers are now widely spread, which are malware encrypting certain types of files stored on the computer, then display a message offering to decrypt the data if a payment is made,” explained Martirosyan.    

In this sphere hackers rapidly target the personal data. According to his research, in Armenia concrete people are subjected to cyber attacks and the hackers are making use of the outflow of their personal data.

 The analyst deemed the cyber attacks against Armenia over the past months as quite concerning.
“The texts are in Armenia and are displayed in pop-up boxes on the monitor on behalf of the police for example asking for payments to not initiate criminal cases over watching porn movies. Unfortunately, most people believe in those messages, since they are written in appropriate Armenian,” Martirosyan said, pointing out to the fact that the authors are proficient with the Armenian language  - another indication of the targeted attack.

The speaker next highlighted the necessity to protect children’s personal data, since the web is filled with fake accounts using children’s profile pictures.

“Children’s online rights should be protected and schools and the families are the ones to monitor that. Children should not interact with strangers, otherwise their their data will be inaccessible,” Martirosyan said, voicing his concern over the lack of discussion in Armenia over the matter.