This has essentially put the brakes on our neighbor’s real estate market, which is not good for anyone.
A hacker known as ByteToBreach broke into Romania’s land registry and reportedly deleted information from the databases. Sources speaking with Risky Business claim that the hacker accessed the system with valid credentials, stole the stored data, and then deleted the information from the servers following a failed extortion attempt. ByteToBreach is reportedly the same hacker who attacked the Swedish government’s e-portal earlier this year and is responsible for numerous other alleged cyberattacks. The stolen data was reportedly offered for sale on two forums.
Meanwhile, it appears that the country’s real estate market has suffered serious disruptions. The Romanian news portal Jurnalul de Argeș reports on a post by notary public Ana Stan, who writes: “I am a notary. Since Tuesday, I have been unable to issue a land registry extract, authenticate a sale, or register a mortgage.” Since citizens and notaries cannot obtain proof of ownership, new real estate transactions have come to a complete standstill. This disruption occurred just a few weeks before the government’s plan to raise the VAT on new apartments from 9% to 21% was set to take effect. Those who wish to finalize their real estate transactions before the deadline are anxiously awaiting the restoration of normal services.
The National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Registration (ANCPI) issued the following statement: “Currently, the IT infrastructure of the ANCPI is undergoing a comprehensive reinstallation and consolidation process. Contrary to information that has appeared in public, at the time of the incident, ANCPI had designated several locations for storing backup copies. This measure ensures redundancy and the possibility of data restoration in the event of a cybersecurity incident.”
The agency also issued a separate statement refuting reports that the entire database had been deleted and declaring that the incident did not affect the institution’s technical and legal databases. Euronews Romania spoke with ByteToBreach via the Signal app and asked what their message was for Romanian authorities and citizens. The hacker reportedly said: “I’m sorry for the problems I caused citizens and the IT team working hard at ANCPI.” The news agency also asked whether users should be concerned about the safety of their data. The alleged perpetrator reportedly replied: “I don’t sell this data to just anyone.”
That’s not exactly reassuring.
Source: PCGamer, Risky Business, Kela Cyber, Dark Web Informer, The Record, Jurnalul de Argeș, Romania Insider, Archive.org, Euronews
