The Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Called for Urgent Measures to Protect Against Data Leaks

Head of the Ministry of Digital Technologies Calls for Urgent Measures to Protect Against Data Leaks

The Minister of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan, Sherzod Shermatov, commented on a recent report regarding a possible personal data leak of 27 million citizens. He confirmed neither the fact of the leak itself nor the figure cited by the Butterfly "ethical hacker" group, but warned that leaks could occur if urgent measures are not taken.

"When investing in the development of artificial intelligence, it is extremely important to invest corresponding funds in protecting against the threats associated with it. If such expenses are considered non-targeted for AI development, the risks will only increase," the minister noted.

He recalled a recent incident involving the largest crypto exchange Binance, through which more than $6.3 billion was stolen, and also mentioned the Butterfly group, which accused cybersecurity specialists from Uzbekistan's government agencies of "inaction."

In a statement, the group indicated that it did not carry out a hack or data leak, but merely sought to show that such actions are possible. The "white hat" (not acting for criminal purposes) hackers gathered data from previous leaks (which official bodies had not confirmed) and published the phone number of Sherzod Shermatov himself.

"The fact that the leak has not spread further so far in no way guarantees that something similar will not happen tomorrow if urgent measures are not taken!" the minister noted.

"AI has marked the beginning of a real revolution in identifying vulnerabilities in legacy information systems. If you look at the chart prepared by Gemini, you can see that the number of vulnerabilities identified today has grown several times over," he wrote, publishing data from 2020.

"Therefore, all state, non-state, and commercial organizations must continuously identify and promptly eliminate vulnerabilities in their systems," the head of the Ministry of Digital Technologies urged.

Against the backdrop of a sharp increase in risks, departments and companies responsible for the creation and operation of information systems need to provide additional funding for cybersecurity and train relevant specialists, Sherzod Shermatov emphasized.

He advised specialists to monitor messages from the Cyber Security Center of the SSS and the UzCERT service regarding newly discovered vulnerabilities and immediately take measures to eliminate them in their systems.

"Otherwise, as digitalization and artificial intelligence develop, the threats will only increase," he noted.

The minister added that the demand for cybersecurity specialists will grow, and stressed that specialized universities should pay attention to the development of this field.