Large scale data breach at the Bulgarian tax agency exposes sensitive information of five million residents.

In an attempt to taunt the Bulgarian government's cybersecurity standards, a 20 year-old computer programmer hacked the national tax agency. Information such as names, addresses, incomes, retirement pension information, and Social Security numbers of 5 million residents dating back to 2007 were exposed. Currently, authorities suspect Kristian Boykov, a former employee of the Bulgarian office of US cybersecurity firm TAD Group, but it's still unclear what level of involvement Boykov had or if he worked alone.

The incident.

In June 2019, the attacker gained access to the database of the tax agency and extracted information. The breach was discovered when Bulgarian news agencies received an email from a Russian address claiming responsibility for the attack and ridiculing the weak security measures of the government. Under the GDPR, the Bulgarian government could face a fine of up to 20 million euros. The country's finance minister, Vladislav Goranov, has apologized in parliament for the breach.

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