Georgia’s Cybersecurity Requirements;

At the request of Georgia’s Ministry of Economic Development, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) asked us to lead an Expert Group to assess cybersecurity readiness, draft a cybersecurity strategy and action plan. The request came after Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks and the defacement of government and commercial websites in the Georgia-Russia war of 2008.

Work Undertaken

Under our leadership, the Expert Group conducted a thorough review of strategies and plans for securing critical information infrastructure (CII). The Experts spoke to Government Ministries including Foreign Affairs, Economic Development, Justice and Education. The team also spoke to Parliamentary security officials and operators of CII in the sectors such as banking, telecommunications and transport.

Value Added

The Expert Group recommended action on cybercrime legislation; strategic accountability for cybersecurity clarity; naming of a cybersecurity focal point; creation of a national incident response team; greater public-private partnership; ICT skills development and public awareness. Apart from the final report we authored, we wrote a cybersecurity strategy.