Information Network Security Agency Explained

Information Network Security Administration
Formed:2006
Jurisdiction:Government of Ethiopia
Headquarters:Wollo Sefer, Ethio China St, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Employees:Classified
Budget:Classified
Chief1 Name:Tigist Hamid
Chief1 Position:Director General of the Information Network Security Agency
Parent Department:Office of Prime Minister of Ethiopia
Parent Agency:Ministry of Peace
Website:https://www.insa.gov.et

The Information Network Security Administration or INSA (Amharic: የመረጃ መረብ ደህንነት አስተዳደር |translit=Yemereja Mereb Dehninet Astedader) is the national signals intelligence and cybersecurity agency of Ethiopia, founded when the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) was the ruling party of Ethiopia.

Creation

The Information Network Security Administration (INSA) was established during the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) era. As part of the War on Terror, Ethiopia emerged as an 'anchor state' for American policy and Western interests in the Horn of Africa. INSA was created with support from the United States government, particularly in the context of the 2006 invasion of Somalia aimed at toppling an Islamic government. The original purpose of the agency was to intercept and analyze intelligence primarily from Somalia.[1]

The legal basis of creating INSA in 2006 was the Council of Ministers Regulation No.130/2006, with goals including defence of Ethiopian information infrastructure. Among the initial activities of INSA was spying on dissidents among the Ethiopian diaspora using "sophisticated intrusion and surveillance software", and to lay legal charges against journalists and opposition activists and politicians of "treason" and "terrorism".

In 2021, INSA shifted to new headquarters in a building constructed near Wello Sefer at a cost of billion. The new building is shared by the Ministry of Peace, Artificial Intelligence Center, and Financial Intelligence Center.[2]

Legal changes

The Council of Ministers Regulation No.250/2011 and Proclamation No.808/2013 updated the initial legal definitions of INSA.[3]

Leadership and structure

On 20 April 2018, Temesgen Tiruneh was appointed Director-General of INSA,[4] who later become director of NISS. As of February 2021, the head of INSA was Shumete Gizaw. In 2024 Tigist Hamid became Director-General of INSA,[5] replacing Solomon Soka.

In October 2018, responsibility for INSA was given to the Ministry of Peace. It was reverted back to the office of the prime minister in October 2021.[6]

Cyberdefence

INSA stated in 2023 that during nine months, it had limited the damage from 4400 attempted and successful cyberattacks against Ethiopian institutions.[7]

Surveillance

INSA plays a role in surveillance and internet censorship in close cooperation with Ethio telecom and other government agencies., INSA had the technical ability to listen to live mobile phone calls, while Ethio telecom did not. In 2013, INSA employees had access to the email and other passwords of users of Woredanet (funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank), Schoolnet (funded by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme), and Agrinet.

Role in arrests of dissidents

See also: human rights in Ethiopia. In 2014, Human Rights Watch found that INSA played a significant role in police and security services' surveillance of Ethiopian citizens' private communications that led to the arbitrary detention of political dissidents.[8] [9]

Social networks

In 2021, INSA ran accounts promoting Ethiopian federal government points of view on Facebook. Facebook closed the accounts, describing them as "inauthentic". The Director of INSA described the accounts as covering "the reality in Ethiopia" and stated that INSA would develop an Ethiopian social media network.

2019 password incident

In 2019, INSA was the subject of notoriety when a crack revealed that more than half of a sample of 300 agents were using extremely simple passwords.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Gardner, Tom . The Abiy Project: God, Power and War in the New Ethiopia . 2024-06-20 . Oxford University Press . 978-1-911723-10-3 . 52 . en.
  2. Web site: 2021-04-19 . PM Inaugurates INSA's New Headquarters Building (April 17, 2021) - Embassy of Ethiopia . 2024-04-28 . en-US.
  3. Web site: duties and responsibilities - en - INSA . 2024-04-28 . insa.gov.et.
  4. News: PM appoints Federal Gov't Officials . 13 October 2019 . . 20 April 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191013150803/https://www.waltainfo.com/news/national/detail?cid=38886&locale=en . 2019-10-13 . dead.
  5. Web site: Two of Ethiopia's Intelligence, Security Institutions Get New Leadership . 2024-04-28 . Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation. https://archive.today/20240629152443/https://ebc.et/english/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=5776. 2024-06-29. live.
  6. News: News: PM Abiy forms new gov't; adds 20 institutions including NISS, INSA, investment & financial security accountable to his office . 4 August 2022 . . 6 October 2021 .
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  10. News: Kay . Felicity . Report: Ethiopian INSA Agents Hacked: 142 agents chose the predictable password 'P@$$w0rd' . 13 October 2019 . Safety Detectives . 30 May 2019. https://archive.today/20210812204144/https://www.safetydetectives.com/blog/report-ethiopia-insa-leak/ . 2021-08-12. live.