Massive Leak from Lithuanian State Register Database. Belarusians May Also Be Affected

Illustrative photo. Photo: Verslo žinios

The data primarily relates to real estate and legal entities — information that is typically not publicly available but provided only for a fee.

For political migrants from Belarus, this could be a security issue — their addresses and information about created legal entities and transactions might become known to more people than they would like.

In real estate registries, sensitive information may include:

• a person's connection to a specific apartment, house, or plot of land;
• object address;
• ownership share;
• mortgage or other encumbrances;
• transaction history;
• a person's connection to a legal entity or organization.

The Centre of Registers states that no phone numbers, email addresses, bank accounts, service payments, transaction documents, court decisions, cadastral plans, or other attached documents were disclosed. According to them, it concerns information from real estate registry excerpts. However, even such information can be sensitive if it falls not to a single legal user, but in a mass — and generally to unknown parties.

The investigation established that there were more than 10 illegal connections or attempts to access the databases. These attacks were carried out from abroad, and they also used systems administered by other state structures.

The investigation is being conducted by the Lithuanian criminal police in cooperation with several agencies, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the State Security Department.

Preliminary estimated losses amount to at least 111 thousand euros.

After the problem was identified, urgent measures were taken:

• accounts through which access occurred were blocked;
• access to systems was restricted;
• cyber defense was strengthened.

While specialists are not providing separate recommendations for citizens and companies yet, residents are urged to be cautious: not to open suspicious links and not to trust messages or calls, even if they use personal data.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene stated that the situation is very serious, as it affects not only technical security but also people's trust in the state. She also believes that the head of the Centre of Registers should resign from his position.

Details of the case are not being disclosed yet to avoid harming the investigation.

According to the Centre of Registers, people whose data may have been affected will be able to check this through the Registrų centras self-service portal or at service branches. Those who own real estate, have a registered company, association, or NGO in Lithuania should particularly watch for notifications.

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