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Kyrgyzstan: officials impound TV station property owned by opposition politician

BISHKEK (TCA) — Court officers in Kyrgyzstan have raided the independent television station NTS, which is owned by opposition politician and former presidential candidate Omurbek Babanov, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. Continue reading

Kyrgyzstan: Supreme Court upholds rulings that ‘muzzle free speech’, HRW says

BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court dealt a heavy blow to freedom of speech on November 30 by upholding three defamation rulings punishing critics for apparently insulting the “honor and dignity” of the now former President, Almazbek Atambayev, Human Rights Watch said. Continue reading

Kazakhstan launches ‘cyber shield’ concept

ASTANA (TCA) — Cyber terrorism and cyber-attacks is a serious challenge facing business companies and even entire countries in contemporary world. Kazakhstan is no exception, and the country has taken efforts to thwart the new threat. We are republishing this article by Anna Gussarova on the issue, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor: The government of Kazakhstan has approved an action plan, on October 28, to implement the country’s cybersecurity concept—“Cyber Shield”—by 2022 (Zakon.kz, November 1). The document outlines key areas of state policy that will be required to build a modern yet reliable system to mitigate and prevent cyberattacks and threats from hybrid (“new type”) warfare. The amount of illegal online content reaching Kazakhstan has grown by a factor of 40 in the last three years (Kapital.kz, September 4). Both government agencies and domestic financial institutions frequently suffer from cyberattacks. Ruslan Abdukalikov, the deputy chairman of the Committee on Information Security in the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry, recently pointed out that the number of cyber threats to the state’s electronic systems increases by 2–2.5 times every year (Inform.kz, October 28). As the country seeks to attract new technologies to encourage economic diversification, information and cybersecurity challenges have been growing as well. To reduce these vulnerabilities, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed the government and the National Security Committee to develop the country’s cybersecurity strategy, emphasizing “this is a matter of national security… In today’s world, it is not necessary to fight using an aircraft or a tank.” Rather, a computer virus can knock a power plant offline or paralyze the domestic railway network, he noted (Informburo.kz, September 4). Recent trends in cyber espionage and hybrid warfare have revealed the country’s need to rethink its security policies, including in the cyber realm. The security services have contributed heavily to formulating a cybersecurity strategy for Kazakhstan. But the above-cited recently adopted action plan is notable because it introduces a comprehensive approach to build a “Cyber Shield” concept that will have multiple stakeholders, including businesses, the research community and the general population. Several important conclusions can be drawn based on the text of the action plan: First, in the government’s view, local software is preferable, but not yet available. As a result, the recently reorganized Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry is working to gradually overcome the country’s reliance on proprietary information security software from abroad as well as foreign IT product certification. Policymakers in Kazakhstan have been discussing this particular issue for the last five years. As a first step in this direction, the Chamber of Entrepreneurs will create a national register of trusted software and IT products by July 2018 (Zakon.kz, November 1). Second, international cooperation is so far limited, but seen as important. In particular, international cooperation appears particularly necessary to allow Kazakhstan to attract new technologies and develop its domestic information and communications technology (ICT) sphere. In this regard, the Cyber Shield action plan lists two main priorities. The first is for the National...

RSF calls on EU to press for media freedom in Central Asia

BISHKEK (TCA) — The journalism watchdog group Reporters Without Borders has called on the European Union to press for greater media freedom as it forges closer economic ties with Central Asia countries, RFE/RL reported. Continue reading

Kazakhstan holds regional conference on media trends

ALMATY (TCA) — A two-day regional conference on major trends and developments in the media in Central Asia, entitled #MediaCA, concluded on 28 September in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The conference was supported by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Continue reading

‘Cyber Shield’ to fight extremism in Kazakhstan

ASTANA (TCA) — As Islamist extremism and terrorism is becoming a serious challenge in Kazakhstan, threatening with cyberattacks, the government is implementing a costly information security project aimed at thwarting the threat. We are republishing this article by Farkhad Sharip, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor and entitled Encroaching Extremism in West Kazakhstan: A Challenge for ‘Cyber Shield’: Continue reading