site.btaSofia Hosts 4th South East European Regional Forum on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime

Sofia, October 30 (BTA) - Making investments in the public and private sectors in order to ensure cybersecurity and address cybercrime is a matter of urgency, Deputy Interior Minister Milko Berner said Monday at the opening of the 4th South East European Regional Forum on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime held in Sofia.

According to Berner, these crimes are the most serious global and anonymous threat and the fastest growing sphere of trans-border crime in the modern world.

Addressing the forum, Steven Wilson, Head of Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, said that around 100,000 devices and 2 million users have been affected by cyberattacks recently. Europol is about to unveil a new unit that will focus on investigations of the "dark net", he also said. Wilson noted the assistance provided by Bulgaria in Europol's latest operations.

Rossen Jeliazkov, Chairperson of the State e-Government Agency, said that piloting a fund for cyber crisis management will be one of the issues to which Bulgaria will seek a common approach during its EU Council Presidency. Other matters of discussion during its EU Presidency will be the EU's initiative for strengthening the capacity of the European Network and Information Security Agency, the implementation of the Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems, and capacity development through development centres in the Member States, said Jeliazkov.