A cybersecurity expert accused of hacking the data of more than 5 million Bulgarian taxpayers was released by police Wednesday after his charges were downgraded.
Kristian Boykov, a 20-year-old Bulgarian cybersecurity worker, was arrested in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia last week in connection to the breach. Police raided his home and seized computers and mobile devices with encrypted information. The hacker was found by police through the computer and software used in the attack, according to the Sofia prosecutor’s office.
Due to his work, which involves testing computer networks for potential vulnerabilities, some believe Boykov is a “white hat hacker” — a hacker who breaks into computer networks to expose vulnerabilities and push for the weaknesses to be fixed.
