What Caused Problems for the Census 2021 Counting System

The topic was commented by the cybersecurity expert Spas Ivanov

"We are watching how the NSI protection measures that have been implemented work. When we have a massive volumetric attack - denial of service, you get on the screens the clouds that people share on social networks. The reason is not that the system has been hacked, but that the server is not accessible. This was explained by the cybersecurity expert Spas Ivanov in the studio of "Hello, Bulgaria".

He added that the NSI system is a complex service that uses various registers in the background. "It automatically checks your PIN, ID number, address, and profession. If you enter your names and PIN, your employer and profession will take them out without you filling them in. That is, the NSI system is connected with many others. If one of these connections falls away, even for a while, the whole process starts all over again," Ivanov said.

The chain of events and the massive attacks of the last days lead to the difficulties with the system, the expert specified. "Imagine that you hire 200 extras, who only have to line up in front of a regional department of the Ministry of Interior. Nothing else - they don't have to go inside, they don't have to submit documents, but they stand in line all day. "People who really need to do their job can't get to the counters because there's always someone waiting there," he said.

Ivanov explained that the goal of blocking the system is often political. According to him, the idea of ​​this is to instill distrust in a service or government initiative. However, measures are already being taken: "There are two solutions to this case - one has already been tried for a while. To restrict access to the NSI website only from Bulgaria....

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