Bulgaria boosts cyber defense with Google Cybershield

Bulgaria Pioneers AI-Powered Cyber Defense with Cybershield

Bulgaria Information Services (BIS), the nation’s system integrator, has integrated Google Cloud’s Cybershield to enhance its cyber defense capabilities. This deployment is a cornerstone of the country’s National Cyber Defence Strategy. The project specifically targets consolidating cyber intelligence and telemetry for 54 Bulgarian government and public sector entities.

EU Funding Supports Eastern Border Cyber Resilience

The initiative receives crucial funding from the European Union, underscoring a regional mandate to fortify the bloc’s eastern border against escalating cyber threats. By adopting Cybershield, BIS aims to drastically reduce the mean time to detect and respond to threats. The goal is to shift national security from traditional methods to an advanced, AI-driven operational framework.

A Model for National Digital Resilience

Simeon Kartselyanski, cyber security manager at BIS and leader of Bulgaria’s National Cyber Security Operations Center, highlighted the long-standing trust with Google Cloud. “By integrating advanced AI-driven security operations and frontline threat intelligence, we are maturing our national defenses to protect Bulgaria’s digital resilience and critical infrastructure,” Kartselyanski stated. He added that this project serves as a model for how other EU nations can leverage centralized capabilities to counter persistent adversaries. The new setup will utilize Google Cloud Security Operations and Google Threat Intelligence, incorporating insights from Mandiant.

Cybershield’s Evolution and Global Adoption

Cybershield, established in 2023 and previously known as Chronicle Cybershield, was developed as a government-specific product. It addresses the need for instantaneous knowledge sharing and superior situational awareness in national cyber defense. Its creation was partly influenced by a significant rise in Mandiant’s government investigations, which surged from 9% in 2021 to 25% in 2022, primarily due to state-sponsored attacks following the invasion of Ukraine. The service is already in use in other nations, including Kuwait, where the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) is developing a similar federated national security operations centre.

Boris Geogiev, Google Cloud director for Central and Eastern Europe, emphasized Bulgaria’s leadership role in European cyber security. “Through Cybershield, we are helping Information Services transform Bulgarian national security from a manual craft into an automated science, fighting AI-powered threats with superior AI-powered defenses,” Geogiev commented. This deployment reinforces the growing trend of nations adopting sophisticated AI tools to safeguard critical infrastructure against increasingly complex digital threats.