Bulgarian public sector data breach reveals EU trend

Subject

Public sector and GDPR.

Significance

Public attention before and since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in May 2018 has largely focused on high-profile corporate data breaches and fines, such as recently at British Airways and the hotel chain Marriott. However, the data breach at the Bulgarian National Revenue Agency last month put public sector agencies, and their obligations under GDPR, under the spotlight.

Impacts

• The upsurge in data breach notifications will stabilise as GDPR implementation progresses.
• Local public sector agencies are beginning to take data privacy and security seriously.
• Outsourcing of public services to private contractors is complicating cybersecurity.