More than 850 people are participating in the interregional conference "Infoforum-Povolzhye" in Nizhny Novgorod.

      September 24, 2025 17:58 Society

      More than 850 people from 31 regions of Russia and from the Republic of Belarus are taking part in the Interregional Conference on Information Security in the Volga Federal District “Infoforum-Povolzhye,” which is being held September 24–25 at the A.D. Sakharov “Mayak” Academy in Nizhny Novgorod.

      The conference has brought together specialists from various sectors of the economy, representatives of federal and regional authorities and local self-government, as well as from science, education and business. It is being organized for the seventh time.

      At the plenary session of the conference, Igor Panshin, Deputy Plenipotentiary Envoy, addressed the participants on behalf of Igor Komarov, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the Volga Federal District.

      “Protecting state systems of government bodies and organizations is one of the most important tasks facing the country. Practice shows that measures aimed at ensuring security within a single structure are ineffective without the interaction of all actors in the information space. Contemporary conditions dictate the need for coordinated work aimed at neutralizing external and internal threats,” said the deputy envoy.

      Conference participants are discussing issues of international cybersecurity, the security of critical information infrastructure, import substitution of necessary software, the training of information security specialists, and more.

      “Digital transformation, which we are actively carrying out in the country and which includes the development of ‘smart cities,’ digital healthcare, the Gosuslugi portal, the digitalization of public administration and all industrial sectors, is impossible under current conditions without guaranteed data protection. This applies to personal data of citizens, information about critical infrastructure, and the operations of government bodies. People’s trust in the digital environment directly depends on how well we organize work to ensure information security. Our enemies are conducting large-scale activities in the information space, attacking resources and trying to undermine trust in them. In such a situation it is especially important to explain to users where the truth is, where the lies are, and how the security of resources is ensured. Whatever problems arise at the initial stages of digital platform deployment, we have no alternative path other than creating sovereign resources. We must come together and help each other to ensure their implementation and stable operation,” said Gleb Nikitin, Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region.

      He noted that a unified security perimeter has been created in Nizhny Novgorod Region for all government bodies. Work in this area includes organizing protection using specialized systems to detect and block cyberattacks.

      “All protection tools are administered centrally. An integral part of this process is continuous monitoring performed by specialists at the regional Information Security Monitoring Center — the Security Operation Center. Monthly, more than seven billion security events generated by the region’s government systems flow in for analysis. Detection of critical incidents takes on average less than 15 minutes. At the same time, we work proactively, testing systems and engaging specialists to search for various types of vulnerabilities. A powerful community of cybersecurity specialists has formed in Nizhny Novgorod Region. The region ranks among the top three alongside Moscow and Saint Petersburg in the number of IT specialists per capita. We have identified IT development as one of the priority sectors, and we are building a world-class IT campus where special attention will be paid to cybersecurity — a separate faculty will be established. This comprehensive approach already allows us to protect more than 2,000 virtual servers and key services, including the electronic document management system, the government website and the information systems of executive authorities,” Gleb Nikitin said.

      According to the governor, concrete proposals and practical solutions that will strengthen the overall digital perimeter will be developed during the discussions at the Infoforum venues. The head of the region emphasized that professional dialogue at the forum is extremely important for developing adequate responses to modern cyber challenges.

      “Solving information security tasks requires coordinated actions by all government bodies and organizations in all regions of the Russian Federation. Today specialists have the opportunity to discuss the current state of affairs and jointly develop proposals for improving the regulatory and legal framework. We know through which channels hacker attacks on government bodies are carried out, and we are ready to repel them. We cannot allow parliaments to stop working because of enemies’ machinations, so we constantly improve technical solutions. We are switching to domestic software products, and employees are being trained in up-to-date methods of digital security. I am pleased to note that the digital transformation project in the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region received the Infoforum Cup in the ‘This Is a Breakthrough’ category. I believe recognition of our leadership should serve as an impetus for even more intensive and substantive work and new achievements in the field of information security,” said Evgeny Lyulin, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region.

      It is worth recalling that the first Interregional Conference “Infoforum-Povolzhye” was held in 2007 in Nizhny Novgorod with the support of the government of Nizhny Novgorod Region and the FSTEC of Russia’s office for the Volga Federal District.

      Infoforum events are organized with the support of the Office of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the FSB of Russia, the FSTEC of Russia, the Ministry of Defence of Russia, the Special Communications Service of the Federal Protective Service of Russia (Spetsviaz of the FSO), the National Guard (Rosgvardiya), the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia (EMERCOM), the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the Ministry of Energy of Russia, the Ministry of Transport of Russia, the Ministry of Finance of Russia, Roskomnadzor and the Bank of Russia.

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