In The Hands Of Hackers

Next week I have an appointment to renew my ID. There's no legal pressure at the moment as my ID only expires in 2032, but the new IDs are issued now for free, courtesy of some EU funds and as the campaign ends in August, I thought why pay 14€ if I can get it for free. When it comes to money, earned by me, I prefer myself over the state.

After the ordeal I had with them last time, I thought this is going to be a piece of cake, like a walk in the park as my papers are in order now, but it seems I was too naive again.

Photo by FlyD on Unsplash

On Sunday, I got a call from a friend who knew I'm planning to renew my ID, asking me if I know what's going on with the cadastral office. I said no, I don't, as I've been planning to put together the necessary documents only towards the end of this week and I'm only reading the local paper occasionally.

Let me give you a brief description of the process we have here. In order to renew your ID, you need proof of address. You need a written agreement from the owner of the property you're residing in, but as I'm the owner, I need a document from the cadastral office, certifying the ownership.

Last time it took me a month to rectify the mistake or the dumb decision the cadastral office made when the apartment building was built and registered and had to pay for it as well, from my own pocket. This time I thought I would just download the document and I'll be all set.

Photo by Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash

Well, turns out the cadastral office's server has been hacked and they are working on restoring the service. This obviously means no documents can be issues till they solve the problem. I still have one week to get the paper and again, I'm not pressured legally either. If I run out of time, I can make another appointment when the office is back in business, but there are others in deeper 💩 than I am.

Some laws has been changed lately and starting from the 1st of August, VAT for property ownership transfer VAT is going to be 21% instead of 9%, what it is now. There are 11 days to go till the end of the month, which means 9 business days and even if they get the app running, I don't know how they are going to process so many cases. I can only imagine how those in this situation feel and am glad it's not me. Paying more than double and it's not even your fault is not fun.

Unfortunately a good part of the population is not really digitally knowledgeable and can only see what's on the surface, but this goes way deeper than that.

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

Today I tried to access the platform to see how things stand and bumped into an announcement, regarding the "cyber security incident". They are letting users know that "the institution's technical and legal databases were not affected". It's a carefully put together text spiced with fancy terms, but if you look into what they say is that they are working on it, and after they restore the database, comes the verification process, which (my terms) God knows how long it's going to take. Then comes a long text about what it has to be done in these cases, to make them look brave, but it is in fact what we call "dust in the eyes". Word on the street is hackers are already selling the data and there goes your privacy and security.

Nothing new here as this is not the first institution to get hacked and chances are, not the last one either and with time, this is only going to get worse. There's a process as to how these softwares and the whole IT system of public institutions are acquired, but what counts more in every single case is for the project to land in the hands of a family member or a friend of someone in high places. This is why there's always a problem with the system and the one who pays the bill is the idiot who should be benefiting from it.

Photo by Lewis Kang'ethe Ngugi on Unsplash

Now imagine the central bank holding the keys to your wallet when digital currency takes over and cash is eliminated. Should I say more?

Maybe I should not say this, but in every bad thing, there's a good thing too. Kleptocracy is not unknown around here, things are moving slowly as those paid with public funds are never in a hurry and most are incompetent and unsuitable for the role, which is why I don't see digital currency implemented anytime soon, if ever. I am only trusting myself, but when something becomes mandatory, there's not much you can do.

Fingers crossed they solve this 💩 and I can get my copy before the end of August as I'm sure as hell I'm not going to pay them extra for something I could have gotten for free and didn't because of them.

Cybersecurity is a fancy word they like to use quite often, there are seminars, conferences about the topic, but actually investing in it is not a priority it seems.

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