Maintaining the activities of the two SIC services – the Internet Hotline for reporting illegal and harmful online content and conduct, and the Online Safety Helpline 124 123 which also provides information, advice and assistance to children and parents on how to deal with harmful content. Reports of online child abuse have increased dramatically over the last 5 years. SIC has seen another 100% increase - 46,359 alerts compared to 23,080 in 2022. It previously saw such a peak in 2020, with the start of the Covid19. Bulgaria is the only EU country that has not secured a state budget for structures such SIC. The Centre is operating under the constant threat of closure due to a lack of funding. In 2023 the Centre has directly trained over 450 students, 250 parents and 700 teachers.

Children, parents, teachers who use SIC's services at www.safenet.bg and need an emergency call point for advice and rights protection in online abuse. Secondary: 1. Educational professionals and experts from government institutions and NGOs. 2. The general public to know about the existence and importance of SIC's work. 3. Politicians and parliamentarians. Parents and children sought help and advice on 362 cases at the 124 123 Helpline (60% parents, 38% children and 2% other professionals).

In 2023, CENTIO #Cybersecurity has secured and continues to support the existence of SIC, as the state has not yet found a funding mechanism for the Center. For 17 years SIC has been supported entirely by external funding projects and donations, despite the fact that it implements state policy and Bulgaria's commitments under several EU Directives and Conventions.

In order to provide a point of contact for children subjected to online abuse, CENTIO #Cybersecurity takes over the financial upkeep of SIC. As part of its CSR policies, it also engages its employees in a number of events that raise awareness about online safety and that advocate for a government commitment to online child protection. CENTIO #Cybersecurity gave publicity to the Centre's activities at the Cyber Security Talks Bulgaria and other events, and actively promoted its cause - the safety of children on the web. For its support for the cause of a safe Internet for Bulgarian children, the company received the Golden Apple 2023 Award for Charity from the National Network for Children. Konstantin Veselinov, Founder and CEO of CENTIO #Cybersecurity participated in the first National Conference on Online Safety and Digital Skills for Children of UNICEF and NNC in October 2023. He also participated in the presentation of the Guide for Parents of Teenagers by Association ‘Parents’, which gave the stage to an insightful conversation about grown-up children, their needs and problems, including on the Internet.

Thanks to the continued existence of the Safer Internet Centre, the Hotline for reporting illegal and harmful for children online content and conduct has received a record 46,359 alerts by September 2023. This is a 100% increase in reports compared to 2022. Over 95% of these are about online sexual abuse against children. A total of 28,818 out of 46,359 alerts have been sent to the Centre by international partners about cases or materials containing sexual exploitation of children in Bulgaria. These have been redirected after analysis to the Cybercrime Directorate of the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime, Ministry of Interior (Bulgaria). 17,541 cases have been identified by SIC and referred to counterparts in other states - other Safer Internet Centres in the respective countri