site.btaMajor Hacker Attack against Bulgarian State Institution on Day of Mayoral Runoffs

Major Hacker Attack against Bulgarian State Institution on Day of Mayoral Runoffs

Sofia, November 3 (BTA) - One of the large Bulgarian state institutions was the target of a hacker attack last Sunday with over 2 billion requests for accessing its website within 24 hours, Deputy Transport, IT and Communications Minister Valeri Borissov said here Tuesday. The attack occurred on the day of mayoral runoffs in this country.

Borissov said that the pressure from the attacks was not much visible for users because the team of Information Services AD and the National Computer Security Incidents Response Team (CERT BG) have taken precautions.

On the previous Sunday when Bulgarians voted in the first round of local elections, the websites of several state institutions, including the Central Election Commission and the Interior Ministry, crashed under hacking attacks giving some politicians an argument for questioning the results of the vote. According to Borissov, that attack was merely a rehearsal for the subsequent attack.

The National Computer Security Incidents Response Team sought assistance from the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team. In addition to that, the competent Bulgarian institutions teamed up to counter the attacks, Borissov said.

He added that the cost of eliminating the aftermaths from the attacks will be higher than what it has cost to organize the hacker attacks.

The Deputy Minister said that the attacks targetted only the information portals of the affected state institutions. Their information systems with all the data they keep, is reliably protected.