CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL ON NATIONAL SECURITY OUTLINED 10 MEASURES AGAINST CYBER CRIME

Cybersecurity and measures to counter cyber attacks were discussed at the meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) , which was convened by Bulgaria’s President Rossen Plevneliev on 14th of April.

The CCNS was attended by the President, the Prime Minister and government ministers, security service chiefs and the leaders of the parliamentary parties.

Recently, Bulgaria has become the target of intensive cyber attacks against national information structures, including critical infrastructure and state departments, President Rossen Plevneliev said after the meeting.

During the 2015 municipal elections, there were numerous attacks on communications and information systems of various government departments and organizations, which caused websites to crash, inability for provision of service and other potential threats of unauthorized retrieval of information.

Cyber attacks against Bulgarian banks, airports and other elements of critical infrastructure have been identified, the President said.

There are cases of extraction of a large amount of personal data of Bulgarian and foreign citizens, he added.

In some cyber attacks, the content of websites of state institutions and agencies was replaced with messages containing anti-democratic and radical propaganda. Aim of cyber attacks is the acquisition of sensitive information, about business relations and transactions, which was then used for the purposes of frauds.

Cyber attacks result in significant financial losses to the Bulgarian and international companies, as well as to Bulgarian and foreign citizens, the statement said.

The members of the Consultative Council agreed that the importance of cyber security would grow with the development of technologies and the deployment of electronic government in Bulgaria.

They outlined 10 recommendations to be fulfilled by the Parliament and the government, among which is the Parliament to consider, as a priority, a draft law for amending the Electronic Governance Act, which envisages the establishment of an “E-government” state agency and a state enterprise “Single System Operator”.

Another recommendation is the Council of Ministers to adopt, as a priority, a national strategy for cyber security “Cyber Sustainable Bulgaria 2020”, after analysing the proposals from the wide public discussion.

The Council of Ministers to initiate legislative changes aiming at adoption and transposition of the EU Directive regarding the measures for ensuring a high general level of network and information security in the European Union and the protection of political and electoral rights of citizens, including in cyberspace.

Other recommendations say that the Council of Ministers should provide the necessary resources for building of adequate capabilities for cyber security and improvement of the communication and information infrastructure for implementation of a network model of information sharing, collaboration and coordination among organizations with primary responsibility for cybersecurity in the state.

The Cabinet should provide the Ministry of Interior, the State Agency for National Security, Defence Ministry, Ministry of Transport and other relevant agencies with the necessary financial resources to gradually increase the number of experts involved in cyber security, as well as for acquisition of technological capabilities for preventing and counteracting cyber threats.

The recommendations say that the Council of Ministers should organize and conduct by the end of 2016 a national training on cyber sustainability, for testing the main elements of the national strategy for cyber security.

The Council of Ministers should undertake actions to strengthen the cooperation with the institutions in EU and NATO, responsible for cyber security. It should also obligate all government institutions to timely inform those responsible for counter-measures, in the events of cyber attacks against them.

There is a recommendation towards the Ministry of Defence, saying that it should speed up the building of an operational center for cyber defence, according to the Development Plan of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria to 2020, as well as to take a more active role in organising and conducting the annual NATO “Cyber Coalition” exercise.

The Ministry of Defence should also strengthen interaction with NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Estonia and second representatives to it, the recommendations said.

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