The Information Network Security Administration or INSA (Amharic: የመረጃ መረብ ደህንነት አስተዳደር, romanized: 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.[1]
Abbreviation | INSA |
---|---|
Formation | 2006 |
Location |
|
Director General | Solomon Soka |
Parent organization | Office of Prime Minister of Ethiopia |
Website | https://www.insa.gov.et |
The Information Network Security Administration was founded during the EPRDF's period in power.[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.[citation needed] 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".[1]
The Council of Ministers Regulation No.250/2011 and Proclamation No.808/2013 updated the initial legal definitions of INSA.[citation needed]
On 20 April 2018, Temesgen Tiruneh was appointed Director-General of INSA,[2] who later become director of NISS. As of Februarys 2021 the head of INSA was Shumete Gizaw.[3]
In October 2018, responsibility for INSA was given to the Ministry of Peace.[4] It was reverted back to the office of the prime minister in October 2021.[5]
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.[6]