Events
'Digital space around president under U.S surveillance.’ Lukashenko highlights importance of digital security
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MINSK, 19 December (BelTA) – It is important to adhere to digital security and develop in-house data processing and storage technologies, Belarusian President , Chairman of the Belarusian People’s Congress Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he spoke at the session of the 7th Belarusian People’s Congress on 19 December, BelTA has learned.
It is especially important for representatives of industrial enterprises, for example, to adhere to digital security rules. “Industrial espionage is still very much alive,” the head of state said. Similarly, there is interest from other countries in information from various devices belonging to high-ranking officials, government representatives, and, of course, in any information related to the head of state. Here, Aleksandr Lukashenko cited a personal example.
The head of state recounted that recently, for the second time this year, Russian counterintelligence reached out to him to warn that certain phones used by people in the president’s circle were being observed by the USA. This information was confirmed and supplemented by the KGB and the Operations and Analysis Center. “The interest is enormous,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
"Therefore, we need to create... Alright, we can buy any phone. Maybe we don’t even need to spend money on that. But the software for it and the server storing all these conversations, let’s say, need to be based here,” he added.
In this regard, Belarus has examples of successful import substitution, especially after Western companies left the Belarusian and Russian markets, the president noted. When the Americans pulled out the McDonald’s fast-food chain, many reacted with panic, wailing: ‘What are we going to do?’ There were also those from other countries willing to fill this niche. But the president tasked them with resolving this promptly: “McDonald’s must be no worse than the American one, but it must be Belarusian”. “I keep planning to visit it, I’ve never been there, but I want to go and see. There’s a specialist, our private entrepreneur, who took this on. He says: everything is ours, except for some kind of bun,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “So McDonald’s is gone - did the sky fall? No.” Moreover, this chain is in demand, especially among the younger generation, and they, perhaps without even realizing it, are already supporting their own domestic production and consuming Belarusian products.
“And they go there, they eat. They say it’s no worse than it was before. But they are proud that it is ours. So why can’t we do anything here [in the high-tech sector]? What did I create the Hi-Tech Park for then? We can do it, I am sure. We must do it in the next five-year period. So that people can use mobile communication freely, without worrying that someone in Canada or America might read something... That is our task,” emphasized the Belarusian leader.
At the same time, the president warned: we cannot completely abandon previous communication technologies. After all, their availability may prove especially important during challenging, critical situations. “Under no circumstances should we abandon that Soviet-era landline communication. We have preserved it. We must not only preserve it, we must maintain it,” the head of state instructed. “We must not destroy what has worked for us for years. It doesn’t require a lot of money. Let it be. God protects those who protect themselves.”
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