site.btaDraft National Cybersecurity Strategy 2020 Offered for Discussion

Draft National Cybersecurity Strategy 2020 Offered for Discussion

Sofia, April 12 (BTA) - A draft national cybersecurity strategy titled Cyber-sustainable Bulgaria 2020 has been completed and offered for discussion in the Council of Ministers' public consultation portal. Comments and proposals on the draft can be made by the end of April.

Bulgaria is implementing a national cybersecurity policy, coordinated with the EU and NATO, defending critical communication and information infrastructure and the opportunity for the public, business, state and public institutions to freely and reliably exchange digital information, the draft says. The main aim of the National Strategy is to achieve cyber-sustainability of society and the state, effective reaction to even unknown threats to the digital system, limitation of harmful consequences, maximum preservation and functioning of vital functions and services of the state.

The draft provides for the establishment of a Cybersecurity Council which is to be chaired by the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Defence, as well as include representatives of the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Energy, security agencies and other institutions, representatives of the business, academic organizations and NGOs as defined in the constituent document.

Nearly 60 per cent of households and over 90 per cent of enterprises in Bulgaria have access to the Internet, with 50 per cent of the enterprises using automated data exchange by external ICT systems.

Nearly all the communication of public administration with business is only digital and online services offered to the public are increasing.

Bulgaria is in the top 20 in the world in terms of high-speed Internet access, which provides new opportunities for remote services but also for large-scale criminal use.

The cybersecurity risks and threats are difficult to define due to the complexity in defining the source of impact, the goals and motives, the complexity and intensity of the modern communication and information processes. Among the most serious destructive impacts are those of hybrid nature, which are most often a combination of a cyber and a physical attack. They could equally affect the public and private sectors, as well as all of Bulgarian society.

A significant portion of such attacks are those seeking financial gains. Cyber attacks are carried out for the purpose of harassment, fraud, distributing child pornography, violating copyrights. They are asymmetric by nature, meaning that quite a lot, and often times unpredictable, damage could be caused with little efforts and investments.

The new technologies and development trends provide new opportunities for developing an industry and services, but also lead to new and still not sufficiently predictable threats and challenges. In view of 2020, the main areas are connected to the development of the Web 3.0 technologies, 4G/5G communications, cloud services, the ever richer multimedia forms of communication on social networks, Internet of Things, robotized artificial intelligence systems and the impact of the introduction of digital currency. The mobile high-speed connectivity in practice connects citizens and devices on the network 24/7 - from the car and airplane to the smart refrigerator, smart clothes, as well as the cyber substitutes for human organs. Over 60 billion devices are expected to be connected to the internet by 2020 across the world, while there are currently no established security requirements for many of them.

This calls for an adequate and timely development and acquisition of cyber defence capabilities.

The Ministry of Defence will have a leading role in this country's cyber defence. Its efficient implementation requires the maintenance and development of existing and new high-tech capabilities for digital defence, compatible with those of NATO and the EU, the document notes.