A hacker going by the name of ByteToBreach has broken in to Romania’s cadastre, or land registry, and reportedly wiped information from its databases. Sources speaking to Risky Business have told the outlet that the hacker entered the system using valid credentials, exfiltrated the data within, and later wiped info from its servers after a failed extortion attempt.
ByteToBreach is reported to be the same hacker that breached the Swedish government’s e-portal earlier this year, among other alleged acts of hackery. The stolen data was said to be announced for sale on two forums.
In the meantime, the country’s real-estate market appears to have been heavily disrupted. Romanian news outlet Jurnalul De Arges reports a post originating from notary Ana Stan that reads: “I am a notary. Since Tuesday I cannot issue a land registry extract, I cannot authenticate a sale, I cannot register a mortgage.”
While citizens and notaries are unable to obtain proof of ownership, new real-estate transactions have been brought to a shuddering halt. The disruption also falls mere weeks before the government’s plans to raise the VAT on new homes to 21% from 9% come into effect, which means those hoping to complete their real-estate dealings before the deadline face an anxious wait for normal service to resume.
The National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Advertising (ANCPI) has released a statement, which begins as follows (via machine translation): “Currently, the IT infrastructure of ANCPI is undergoing a comprehensive reinstallation and consolidation process.”
“Contrary to some information appearing in the public space, at the time of the incident, ANCPI had several locations designated for storing backup copies, a measure that ensures redundancy and the possibility of data restoration in the event of cybersecurity incidents,” the statement continues.
The agency also released a separate statement contradicting reports that the entire database had been wiped, stating that “the institution’s technical and legal databases have not been affected.”
Euronews Romania claims to have spoken to ByteToBreach over Signal, and asked them what their message was for the authorities and citizens of Romania. The hacker was reported to have said: “I’m sorry for the problems I caused for citizens and for the IT team now working hard at ANCPU.”
The outlet also wanted to know whether users should be concerned if their data was compromised, to which the claimed perpetrator is said to have responded: “I don’t sell this data to just anyone.”
Which is… not entirely reassuring, I grant you.
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