Bank of Russia and Central Bank of Armenia make information security cooperation agreement

Starting from 17 September 2018, the national regulators of the two countries will exchange information about cyberattacks and their countering practices. The Central Bank of Armenia’s counterparty on behalf of the Bank of Russia will be the Financial Sector Computer Emergency Response Team (FinCERT).

The document was signed by Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina and Arthur Javadyan, Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia.

‘The purpose of this Agreement is to establish cooperation between the Parties to counter cyberattacks, which is aimed at preventing and detecting cyberattacks, enabling their termination, and enhancing information security of the Parties’, reads the document.

Provisions of the Agreement stipulate that the Parties should notify each other if they detect cyberincidents or receive information about them. If technologically feasible, they should carry out a comprehensive analysis of such information and deliver the results to the other Party. When unable to do so, the Parties have the right to submit cyberincident information to the other Party for comprehensive analysis.

Armenia became the second country of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with the financial regulator of which the Bank of Russia signed an agreement on information security cooperation. On 7 July 2018, a similar agreement was signed with the National Bank of Kazakhstan; agreements with the national banks of Belarus and Kyrgyzstan will follow.

The expansion of international cooperation on information security with EAEU countries is aimed at creating a common cyberspace and a trusted financial environment within the EAEU. In addition to cyberthreat information exchange, FinCERT, on behalf of the Bank of Russia, provides advisory and methodological assistance to the national (central) banks of EAEU countries in their efforts to create their own cyberattack response teams.