A cyber security expert has predicted a rise in the number of hacker attacks against Armenian web resources pointing an accusatory finger at “network hooligans” recruited by Azerbaijani special services.

At a press conference Thursday, independent analyst Samvel Martirosyan further argued that the impact of ‘cyber terrorism’ on Armenia will become more appreciable with the country’s development and growing dependence on information technologies.

“It is one thing in the case with network hooligans, and it is quite a different thing when Azerbaijani special services use hacker groups,” said Martirosyan.

Martirosyan echoed the widespread concerns and speculations among cyber experts in Armenia that Azerbaijani special services may have been behind the recent attacks against several government and media websites in Armenia resulting in their temporary disruptions.

“It is a serious threat because in the course of time Armenia becomes more and more dependant on information technologies,” he said.

The specialist predicted that it wouldn’t necessarily be the government websites that would become the first-choice soft targets for hackers.

“There is the financial sector, e-commerce is developing and possible in a few years’ time we will have serious IT infrastructure. Its vulnerability may lead to serious threats and their impact may be felt not only by government websites, but also by ordinary citizens,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking at a seminar on cyber security in Armenia, Armenian Center for National and International Studies Director Richard Giragosian stressed that cyber security is an important element of the country’s national security.

“Lately hackers carried out several cyber attacks against Armenian government and media websites. In fact, we can say that Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a state of cyber war,” said Giragosian. “Vulnerability in a cyber space would also make Armenia vulnerable in a battlefield.”

Giragosian noted that while hacker attacks against Armenian media websites are routinely carried out from the territory of Azerbaijan, the most recent one was launched from the territory of Turkey causing a great deal of anxiety among Armenian specialists.

Giragosian called upon the president of Armenia, the secretary of the National Security Council and the minister of defense to pay more attention to problems of cyber security. In particular, he made a case for de-monopolizing the IT sector, improving copyright protection standards and making serious preparations for possible emergency situations as effective measures to solve the problem.

Also, Giragosian suggested developing Armenia’s IT potential to ensure the sphere does not depend on external factors.

“Energy and transportation in Armenia as well as nearly the whole telecom sector is owned by Russian companies, which puts Russia in a dominant position. It is necessary to ensure competition. Otherwise the development of IT is impossible,” he said.

Armenia is also heavily dependent on Georgia, its major internet conduit.