BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Over the past three years, Azerbaijan has stopped routing government traffic through foreign services like CloudFlare, ensuring that network security is now fully managed locally through AzStateNet, said Tural Mammadov, Deputy Director of the Special Communication and Information Security State Service, Trend reports.
Speaking at the “Cybersecurity Day” event, Mammadov emphasized that this initiative aligns with one of the key objectives outlined by the President in the national Information Security Strategy.
“The recent incident affecting over 9,000 domestic websites highlighted the critical importance of developing local products and ensuring digital sovereignty. It would be mistaken to reduce this event to a mere ‘Cloudflare’ issue, it clearly demonstrated the private sector’s reliance on foreign services,” he said.
Mammadov added that the significant impact on media platforms underscores the need to continuously evaluate and strengthen the country’s preparedness for information warfare.
“While local security solutions may entail higher costs, their prioritization is essential. Within the framework of the ongoing and successful state policy, our information security strategy emphasizes domestic solutions and seeks to ensure maximum protection at the national level,” he stated.
He observed that over the past three years, the practice of routing traffic abroad, including through platforms such as CloudFlare previously utilized by several state institutions, has been discontinued, with protection now provided through AzStateNet.
“Overall, during this period, the network security of 457 state facilities has been migrated to AzStateNet, ensuring comprehensive local protection. The security policy we are implementing extends beyond internet-based information resources to include special state communications, meaning that even in the event of disruptions to global internet access, all state information resources will continue to function domestically,” Mammadov explained.
He further noted that specialized radio communications equipment, deployed to all power structures and critical infrastructure, is fully operational nationwide and functions independently of mobile networks.
“In addition, the TIMS application, introduced as an alternative to external services such as WhatsApp, is actively utilized within state institutions and reduces foreign dependence. Of course, these examples represent only a portion of the work accomplished and an even smaller fraction of the tasks that remain. I want to underscore that supporting the development of local companies not only directly benefits them, but also strengthens the broader ecosystem and indirectly enhances all measures undertaken to safeguard state institutions,” the official added.
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