Real estate transactions have been blocked since last week
Hackers have violated Romania’s cadastre agency and wiped the country’s entire land registry database after an extortion attempt failed.
The hack announced last week has blocked Romania’s entire real-estate market as official apps and websites have been offline for a week. Notaries are unable to record new transactions because citizens can’t obtain proof of ownership or detailed land records.
Email servers at the National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Advertising (Agenția Națională de Cadastru și Publicitate Imobiliară, or ANCPI) were also down as part of the incident which happened around July 14.
According to reports, the hacker entered the system using valid credentials, mapped internal systems, and wiped systems and backups after they failed to extort the agency.
The incident was made public on July 14 as the hacker started deleting data. The next day, some of the stolen data was put up for sale on a known hacking forum. The data included employee credentials, internal documents, and details on the agency’s IT network.
Officials have restored their website and posted a message announcing they are rebuilding the agency’s entire network from scratch.
Even though the hacker claims to have deleted backups, the agency appears to have had paper copies.
The stolen data was posted online by an account with the name ByteToBreach, a known hacker who also violated Sweden’s government portal this year as well as other government agencies and high-profile companies.
Poland, Slovakia, Greece, Morocco, Russia and Ukraine have also had their land registry agencies hacked in the past three years, Risky Biz reported.
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