Mundrov to IT companies: Let's protect the country online together

The Minister of Electronic Governance Valentin Mundrov met with representatives of the ICT sector to discuss an urgent issue: how the state can better protect itself online. The topic of the conversation was the national cybersecurity system, which is designed to protect the servers, networks and data of government agencies.

From the very beginning, Mundrov clearly stated that he did not want this meeting to turn into just another formality. He stressed that behind every secure system are qualified people, not just expensive equipment. That is why business is a natural partner for government agencies. "This also guarantees mutual supervision - this is a way to eliminate weaknesses, achieve full transparency and end the practices observed in the past under previous MEG administrations," the minister said. He categorically insisted that the ministry should remove "inherited, opaque practices" and stop the so-called... secret orders.

A more specific topic of discussion was the Service Level Agreement (SLA) document. In essence, this is a detailed "contract for expectations" - it describes what services will be provided, what quality is guaranteed, who is responsible for what and how cybersecurity will be monitored. The parties agreed that this document should be finalized and approved by Friday, after which it will become mandatory for all government agencies.

Representatives of the IT industry noted that the very fact of regular meetings with the minister is an important signal. According to them, the main problem before was often the lack of information - decisions were made "blindly" and without explanation. Now they welcome the efforts of the Ministry of Information Technology to increase the transparency of procedures and disclose more detailed information.

For his part, Mundrov stressed that the government must be open to business if it wants to keep up with rapidly evolving technologies. He noted that cyber threats are constantly changing and the state cannot deal with them alone. The minister stressed that Bulgarian companies have significant potential and professionalism and that many of them already provide high-quality services at an international level. Therefore, he called for the continuation and deepening of cooperation.

The conversation also touched on another key topic: electronic identification and digital wallets. "I expect that with the support of the business and "Information Services" AD, we will move to a digital wallet and make up for lost time. By the end of next year, there should be a functioning digital wallet in Bulgaria - this is also my personal priority," said Mundrov. This is an application where people can store their electronic ID cards and official documents and use them when contacting government agencies.

The meeting with representatives of Bulgarian IT organizations was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Electronic Governance Alexander Yolovski, the executive director of "Information Services" AD Ivaylo Filipov and the national cybersecurity coordinator Simeon Karczelanski, which indicated that this topic is a priority for the entire team, not just one minister.