The municipality and the European Digital Innovation Hub organised events to discuss risks and protection activities
In today’s super-connected world, critical infrastructure – from power grids and water systems to transport and healthcare – forms the foundation of modern society. But with this digital evolution comes a new landscape of threats. Cybersecurity is no longer just a matter of adding to an organization’s operations – it is a strategic priority.
On May 29 and 30, 2025 consulting events “European Digital Innovation Days in Critical Infrastructure – Cyber Security in the Industrial Sector and Existing Threats” were held, organized by the Municipality of Plovdiv and EDIH “Trakia”, with the support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Plovdiv under the Cyber4AllSTAR project, which were dedicated to cyber security in industrial enterprises, the main industries that support the vital functions of society.
Hristian Daskalov – EDIH “Trakia”
The two-day forum started at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Plovdiv, where the chairman of EDIH “Trakia”, Dr. Hristian Daskalov, together with Vanya Toneva, chief expert “Digitalization” from Plovdiv Municipality, opened the events. Prof. Dr. Velizar Shalamanov and Velizar Varbanov, Director of the Directorate “Network Information Security”, Ministry of e-Government addressed the participants with welcoming remarks.
Dr. Velizar Shalamanov
The panel session on Critical Infrastructure Security was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Velizar Shalamanov and was attended by Velizar Varbanov, Director of Network Information Security Directorate, Ministry of e-Government. and Chief Inspector Georgi Kazakov, Plovdiv Economic Police.. The importance of cyber security in the industrial sector and the country’s critical infrastructures was highlighted by Velizar Shalamanov, who discussed the different types of attacks that can take place, as well as the relationship between the public and private sectors in terms of cyber security. For his part, Velizar Varbanov presented the measures of the Ministry of e-Government and announced that they will provide cloud space to public institutions for municipal data and training for public sector employees on cybersecurity. He stressed the role of the state as an important security object, as well as the powers.
From left to right- Dr. Velizar Shalamanov, Velizar Varbanov, Chief Insp. Georgi Kazakov
The new cybersecurity regulations, as well as their scopes for industrial enterprises and those that are affected by NIS2 and DORA directives were presented by Sasha Boncheva, coordinator for the Women4Cyber initiative. She drew attention to deadlines and activities that organisations should have in mind when working.
Kiril Grigorov, Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Cyber Security Association, presented the process of cyber attacks and the different phases of their progress and reactions. And head of the service delivery activity at EDIH “Trakia”. He shared practical experience that shows a large number of companies after a cyber incident do not share and learn from what happened and unfortunately are often exposed to the same threats, and attacks are repeated.
Kiril Grigorov
A lively discussion followed on the role of the human factor and the need for investment. These topics were the basis of the presentations of Anton Todorov from New i, Penka Chakirova, Chief Expert at the Directorate General “European Funds, International Programmes and Projects” and Georgi Grozev, Director of the Plovdiv Branch of UniCredit Bulbank. Anton Todorov presented open calls for applications, Penka Chakurova drew attention to the availability of funding for training of employees in digital skills, part of which is cyber security, and Georgi Grozev shared the opportunities for complementary financing, guarantees and lending. Discussion followed on the different methods of financing projects and which ones would be better compared to others in different situations.
From left to right – Anton Todorov, Penka Chakurova, Georgi Grozev, Rumyana Atanasova
After the lunch break, Petar Kanchev from EDIH “Trakia” conducted a simulation of a cyber attack. The participants showed great interest in this practical training.They were divided into several teams and each team had to propose a product or service they offer and each participant was given important business roles such as CEO, CFO, PR specialist and others. The goal was to explain how the team would respond to a critical breach in the company’s information security.
Before the end of the first day of the two-day forum, business representatives presented solutions and approaches to protect industrial networks. Nikola Petkov, Sales Manager Siemens Bulgaria, presented products and services and stressed the importance of protection systems.
Nikola Petkov
AKAT Technologies, with company co-founder Ivelin Pavlov as a representative, presented an update on cyber incidents in the industry and explained the difference between current trends for industrial systems connectivity and what the processes were before, as well as a product that can simultaneously evolve and expand systems while being protected from cyber threats.
Ivelin Pavlov
The CTO of Digital Content Distribution, Angel Atanasov, presented the company and the products and services they offer, focusing on the problems that production companies face and presented in detail the services and how they work with already established systems in an enterprise.
Angel Atanasov
The events of the first day ended with the presentation of a solution for protection against ransomware attacks by Stefan Tafkov from BAS.
Stefan Tafkov
The second day was dedicated to the Cyber4ALLSTAR project, and the future development in its transformation as Cyber4All 2.0. The hybrid version of the second part of the two-day events started with the presentation of the European Digital Innovation Hub “Trakia” by Dr. Christian Daskalov about the services provided by the hub and the funding opportunities. He also drew attention to the evolving ecosystem of the EDIH Trakia and the various trainings being conducted by experts in the field of cyber security.
Dr. Rumyana Atanasova also shared about the submitted proposal for the future development of EDIH “Trakia”, noting that solutions will be developed for sectors that are most vulnerable in terms of cyber threats such as healthcare, manufacturing and administration.
A separate presentation was made on the CyberSec4OT project, part of which is DIH “Trakia”, funded by the European Commission. The project will support small and medium industrial enterprises. By completing the questionnaire, you can have your say on specific issues and challenges, on the topics you need and get training later.
Hristian Daskalov presented the OSCRAT project, a partner of which EDIH Trakia will coordinate activities to provide services to help companies comply with cyber security law. Through the tool developed under the project, organisations will be able to prepare and therefore demonstrate compliance when this law comes into force.
In the last part of our two-day events, we discussed the new platform of EDIH “Trakia”, which aims to promote European programmes and projects in the South Central region of Bulgaria – EU in Plovdiv . The platform brings together information on projects that are underway and accessible to organisations in the region.