Azerbaijan Has Established a National Cybersecurity Agency to Protect Against Attacks Originating from russia and Iran

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree establishing the National Cybersecurity Agency (NCA) – a new centralized government body designed to protect the country from growing digital threats. These include hacking operations originating from russia and Iran.

The NCA was formed on the basis of the Electronic Security Service and is subordinate to the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport. The Agency’s responsibilities include monitoring cyber threats, protecting data centers and critical information infrastructure, supporting the implementation of artificial intelligence technologies, and developing a regulatory framework in the field of cybersecurity.

The context for understanding the decree is February 2025, when Azerbaijan’s media outlets suffered a large-scale cyberattack. Head of the Temporary Parliamentary Commission on Countering Foreign Interference and Hybrid Threats Rauf Namazov linked the attack to the russian group APT29, also known as Cozy Bear, Midnight Blizzard, and The Dukes. In his assessment, the attack was moscow’s response to Baku’s decision to close the “russian house” cultural center and its intention to shut down the “sputnik” office in the country.

In parallel, Azerbaijan is expanding its technological alliance with the United States. On June 2, the first Azerbaijan- the USA Economic Dialogue took place in Baku as part of Baku Energy Week. The parties determined the following priorities for cooperation: energy, investment, regional connectivity, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure. Following the visit by the American delegation, commercial agreements worth over $8 billion were signed.

Taken together, these steps demonstrate a clear strategy. Baku is developing a centralized cybersecurity model based on the Western model to increase the state’s resilience to hybrid threats from russia. Critical information infrastructure, government digital services, data centers, and the media space are all being protected.