Hackers Claim Data Breach at Bulgarias Supreme Administrative Court Novinitecom Sofia News Agency

pHOT Novinites MostRead Articles of 2024 A Year in ReviewppppThe Ransomhouse hacker group has claimed responsibility for stealing data from the Supreme Administrative Courts information systems The group published documents including lists of employee names personal data and leave applications as evidence of the breach according to cybersecurity website Questona Along with the leaked documents the hackers addressed the courts management with a message urging them to make contactppAt an extraordinary hearing before the Supreme Judicial Council acting Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court Georgi Cholakov confirmed that the system had been infected with one of the most advanced ransomware strainsWhite Rabbit He suggested that human error might have led to the attack While he acknowledged receiving a ransom demand he declined to provide further details At the time Cholakov firmly denied that any data had been lost from the Unified Case Management Information SystemppA week after the cyberattack the Supreme Administrative Court was allocated 17 million leva for new servers and upgraded hardware to enhance its cybersecurity During a parliamentary committee hearing on information management Cholakov informed MPs that an investigation into the incident was ongoing He revealed that 140 computers in the Supreme Administrative Court had been infected and encrypted but assured that the courts system remained operational However efforts were still underway to determine whether any data had indeed been leakedppCholakov stated that the court managed to avoid more serious consequences since the issuance of judicial acts is still conducted on paper He noted that if personal data had indeed been leaked the court would be obligated to fine itself just as it had previously fined the National Revenue Agency for a similar breachppMeanwhile Emil Petrov responsible for information security at the court explained that temporary protective measures had been implemented to secure the servers He emphasized that proper cybersecurity requires adequate funding and additional training for court employeesppThe Directorate for the Prevention of Cybercrime and Corruption reported that initial findings suggest the attack originated outside Bulgaria The attack on the Unified Administrative and Information System EDIS of the administrative courts took place on January 27 During a parliamentary hearing before the Committee on Electronic Governance and Information Technologies Cholakov confirmed that there had been a ransom message following the attack He also acknowledged that while infected computers had lost data copies of court documentation had been preservedppThe investigation is still ongoing with authorities working to determine whether sensitive court data has been leaked on the dark webppSourcesppBulgarian chess player Nurgyul Salimova achieved an impressive performance at the Ganira Pashayeva tournament in BakuppDimitar Georgiev a Bulgarian financier and international market analyst warned of potential economic catastrophe due to the immense financial burden caused by rearmament efforts across Europe including BulgariappBulgarian tennis star Grigor Dimitrov started his campaign at the Indian Wells Open with a strong performance securing a straightsets victory over Portugals Nuno BorgesppThe first Saturday after Sirni Zagovezni CheeseFare Sunday marks the celebration of Todorovden a holiday deeply rooted in Bulgarian traditionsppBulgarian snowboarders Tervel Zamfirov and Malena Zamfirova secured the world title in the team eventppThe Bulgarian government expects to restart the procedure for securing the second payment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan by the end of MarchppTwo meteorologists on duty at the forecasting station on Murgash Peak were brutally attacked on the night of March 9ppThree Bulgarians have been convicted of espionage charges in the UK accused of working for Russian intelligenceppAn 18yearold woman working at a gas station along the Struma Highway was kidnapped by a 24yearold manppA Bulgarian woman living in Hollywood Mirela Todorova has been convicted of drug distribution after creating a network that investigators have likened toppA man has been charged with attempted premeditated murder after attacking and seriously injuring a woman on a tram in SofiappGerman authorities have uncovered a largescale scheme involving Bulgarians and Romanians fraudulently receiving child benefits for nonexistent or absent childrenppBulgarias Perperikon A European Counterpart to Perus Machu PicchuppBulgarians Among EUs Least Frequent Vacationers Struggling with Affordabilityp