Avoid Excessive Phone Conversations: Vanetsyan on Wiretapping

The Director of the National Security Service, Artur Vanetsyan, addressed the reasons behind the well-known wiretapping incident involving him and Anti-Corruption Committee head Sasun Khachatryan during the budget report discussion in parliament on June 5, 2018.

“In the modern world, ensuring 100 percent confidentiality of telephone conversations is nearly impossible. We are all aware of dozens and hundreds of cases where leaders, politicians, and state officials from many countries have been wiretapped. Believe me, there are thousands of cases that haven’t been made public. In this regard, we cannot talk about 100 percent protection; however, before the emergence of those well-known wiretapping cases, the NSS began developing a program with specialists in the field of information technology to protect us from any type of wiretapping. That program exists today and is operational; it is installed on my phone, and it is still in the testing phase as we check for vulnerabilities. At this moment, it is quite secure; many experts have already concluded that wiretapping of this application is nearly impossible,” Vanetsyan stated.

Vanetsyan advised against discussing too much over the phone while using roaming services.