State Security Service: Some Countries Used Cyberwar operations against Georgia
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, March 29
2018 report of Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS) reads that as a result of the counterintelligence activities of the State Security Service is has been established that the foreign countries and their special services are increasingly using cyber means in their own interests.
The report, which has been sent to the parliament, reads that some countries interested in strengthening influence in Georgia were actively using the "hybrid war" methods to achieve their goals.
"In 2018, the counter-intelligence activities of the State Security Service aimed to detect the intelligence activities of the foreign countries’ special services, areas of their interests and the methods and means used by them,” the document reads.
It also says that an active work was carried out to identify and prevent the threats against the interests of Georgia by the organizations, individuals and groups of individuals having ties with the special services of foreign countries and to detect their activities directed against Georgia’s interests.
“Special services of foreign countries aimed to develop confrontation between different ethnic and religious groups living in Georgia; To stimulate anti-western attitudes in the population; To deteriorate Georgia’s bilateral relations with the countries of the region and strategic partners; To damage the image of Georgia’s, as a democratic and stable country’s image; To gain economic leverages; To promote permanent internal political tensions; To introduce uncertainty and nihilism in the society,” the report reads, adding a misinformation campaign was an important tool for the hybrid war.
Based on the information obtained as a result of counter-intelligence activities, the State Security Service revealed main challenges facing the country, including the violation of country's territorial integrity, destabilization, creation of separate hearths of unrest and the attempts to polarize the public, the threat of economic expansion, attempt to reverse the country’s foreign policy and to violate its sovereignty.
2018 report also says that Russian forces tried to use the two occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to conduct clandestine, illegal operations.
Furthermore, the report says that the occupation and deployment of Russian troops on Georgian territory remain a major threat to Georgia.
“The increased militarization of the Georgian occupied territories, discrimination against the ethnic Georgian population, the restriction of free movement for locals and the informal annexation process in the Georgian regions by Russia are the key challenges for the Georgian state,” the report says.
The SSS also noted that due to its activities last year, the influence of the Islamic State terrorist group on Georgia has decreased.
