The free online sale of high-frequency jammers in Bulgaria has caused serious concerns among security experts.
They are demanding urgent legal changes and strict regulation. The problem came to the fore after two days ago the State Agency for National Security (DANS), together with the Ministry of Interior and the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC), neutralized an extremely powerful GPS jammer in the capital's Dragalevtsi district.
The device was located in a tightly guarded complex. Its signal has suppressed key frequencies throughout Sofia, affecting television towers and disrupting aircraft navigation around Sofia Airport.
Anyone can buy a GPS and GSM signal jammer
A check of the Bulgarian Internet shows that the market is flooded with devices for blocking communications. Any citizen can purchase an alarm jammer, GSM or GPS tracking device with just a few clicks, without requiring any deposit or permit. Prices range from a hundred leva for mobile blockers to thousands of euros for stationary machines.
According to the Electronic Communications Act, broadcasting in the radio frequency spectrum without a license is prohibited, but actual control over the import and sale of the equipment itself is severely limited. Experts warn that the lack of criminalization of the very possession of such equipment by civilians unties the hands of criminal structures. They can use them to jam car alarms, rob people or block drones.
Urgent legal regulation is needed
Cybersecurity specialists are categorical that the incident in Sofia is a clear signal of an urgent need for legislative changes. The use of such devices threatens air transport and communication networks. National security requires the introduction of a special sales and registration regime, similar to that for weapons.
The institutions in our country have already begun inspections of traders offering the specific equipment, but without specific legal definitions and sanctions for possession, limiting the black market remains almost impossible.