A 20-year-old cybersecurity worker has been arrested in Bulgaria and charged with hacking the personal and financial records of millions of taxpayers in the country’s biggest ever data breach.
Bulgaria’s NRA tax agency is facing a fine of up to €20m over the hack, which was revealed this week and is thought to have compromised the records of nearly every working adult among the country’s population of 7 million.
Experts who have examined the stolen data said the techniques used in the attack were relatively basic and spoke of a lack of adequate data protection measures more than the hacker’s ability.
Yavor Kolev, head of the police’s cybersecurity unit, said the male suspect was arrested on Tuesday afternoon. Officers raided his home and office in the capital, Sofia, and seized computer devices containing encrypted data.
The investigation into the hack was still at an early stage, he added, and police were looking into the possibility that other people were involved.
Sofia city prosecutors said the man had been charged with a computer crime, would be held for another three days and faced up to eight years in jail if found guilty.
Via The Guardian
7th September 2026
Kenya's trade ministry has warned foreign nationals that visa-free entry into the country does not grant them the right to work, as the government vows to shut down unlicensed small busi...
7th September 2026
France has dropped plans to introduce a mandatory deposit system for plastic bottles, instead proposing that towns and cities establish voluntary schemes.
The French environment minis...
6th September 2026
Updated 1220
nech Acquittal Sheds Light on Controversial Moments Behind Trial’s Media Bans: Yorgen Fenech was acquitted on Wednesday of masterminding the assassination of journalist D...
4th September 2026
Morning Briefing
Court orders police to examine new evidence after Fenech acquittal
The Criminal Court has ordered police to examine testimony heard during Yorgen Fenech’s murder t...
25th June 2026
The European Commission has unveiled an ambitious package of tax reforms aimed at simplifying tax rules across the European Union, reducing compliance burdens for businesses and strength...
10th June 2026
The European Union's new Migration and Asylum Pact enters into force on 12 June, ushering in the most significant reform of the bloc's migration framework in years and placing renewed em...
7th September 2026
A shortage of fuel oil used in ships and power plants looms in the third quarter as refiners increasingly squeezed by wars that have disrupted both crude processing and tanker traffic ...
4th September 2026
Malta Public Transport is encouraging passengers attending Una Notte Con Le Stelle at The Granaries, Floriana, on Saturday 5 September to make use of the regular night bus services opera...
5th August 2026
Artificial intelligence has already transformed industries such as finance and education, but one of its most important tests may come in medicine: discovering new drugs.
Pharmaceutic...
2nd August 2026
Malta’s new pay transparency regulations, which came into effect on the 5th of June, aim to strengthen fairness and equality in the workplace, but employers are warning that the rushed i...
4th September 2026
Malta Public Transport is encouraging passengers attending Una Notte Con Le Stelle at The Granaries, Floriana, on Saturday 5 September to make use of the regular night bus services opera...
3rd September 2026
The first edition of HEKATECH.HEALTH 2026, to be held in Malta on November 26, will focus on how health systems can reconcile two increasingly urgent demands: expanding access to new med...
3rd September 2026
Fears of renewed escalation gripped the Middle East on Wednesday after the United States and Iran exchanged their biggest barrage since July, with Washington striking Iran's southern co...
4th August 2026
President Donald Trump announced late Saturday that he had called off planned U.S. strikes on Iran, saying renewed negotiations had raised hopes of easing the conflict and reopening ship...
25th June 2026
At least 32 people have been killed and more than 700 injured after two powerful earthquakes — measuring 7.2 and 7.5 — struck central Venezuela seconds apart, causing widespread destruct...
25th February 2026
Thousands of Cuban security personnel have begun leaving Caracas after nearly two decades in Venezuela, as Washington ramps up efforts to dismantle the long standing alliance between the...
24th August 2026
Ukraine wants peace but will not just give in to Russia at any price, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday in a defiant speech marking Independence Day celebrations.
British...
21st August 2026
Russia is open to listening to new proposals on how to reach a settlement on the Ukraine conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, but any proposals should reflect the "realities on the...