A computer hacker reportedly infiltrated the Bulgarian tax system and stole the personal details of every working adult in the country. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov called the young hacker accused of the crime a “wizard.”
Business Insider reports that a hacker has infiltrated the Bulgarian tax system and stolen the personal data of every single working adult in the country. The bank, salary, and social security details of five million Bulgarians were stolen from the country’s National Revenue Agency. Police recently charged 20-year-old Kristian Boykov with hacking “critical infrastructure,” but lowered these charges due to the young age of Boykov.
Police raided Boykov’s home in Sofia and seized computers containing encrypted data. The head of the Bulgarian police’s cybersecurity unit, Yavor Kolev, said that the seized evidence “suggests that the suspect is connected to the crime.” It was reported by the Sofia News Agency that the initial charges brought against Boykov which could have seen him facing a maximum of eight years in jail, were downgraded by the prosecutor’s office due to the “lack of previous criminal record, his good character, and young age.”
Boykov now faces three years in jail on charges of committing a crime against an information system. Georgi Stefanov, Boykov’s lawyer, states that his client denies the charges. Asen Genov, a Bulgarian blogger and political analyst, told CNN: “We should all be angry … The information is now freely available to anyone. Many, many people in Bulgaria already have this file, and I believe that it’s not only in Bulgaria.”
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov stated that the young hacker Boykov a “wizard.” Borissov added that the state should hire security technicians with “unique brains” like Boykov’s. Rossen Bachvarov, a National Revenue Agency spokesman, told CNN: “As there is undergoing investigation, we couldn’t provide more details about reasons behind the hack.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com