Lithuania's Interior Ministry reports cyberattack on its information system
Lithuanian Interior Minister Martynas Katelinas was informed of a cyberattack on an information system administered by the Information Technology and Communications Department (IRD) under Lithuania's Interior Ministry.
According to Ukrinform, the report was published by LRT.
"Lithuania's Interior Ministry said Friday that its information system was targeted in a cyberattack and that it had referred the incident to law enforcement," the report said.
The ministry noted that recently implemented security measures made it possible to detect the attack and prevent it from spreading further.
Authorities established that hackers gained unauthorized access to the EPEKIS information system, which provided public services related to the issuance of personal and other documents, as well as consultations for Lithuanian citizens and foreigners.
The EPEKIS system has not been actively used since 2018 and currently operates as an archival system. It contains archived data on foreigners who had applied for Lithuanian citizenship. Most of the data consists of the first and last names of foreign nationals without their personal identification numbers.
IRD representatives told the minister that the unauthorized access was immediately blocked. The ministry said that certain datasets were generated following the breach, but there is currently no evidence that the attackers downloaded the data.
The Criminal Police Bureau, the State Data Protection Inspectorate, and the National Cyber Security Centre were informed of the incident.
Katelinas ordered a security review of all information systems and databases under the ministry's authority. He noted that following a previous incident at the state-owned Centre of Registers, two-factor authentication and enhanced control measures had already been introduced.
The minister said that authorities were not ruling out the possibility that an artificial intelligence platform had been used in the attack.
In May, the Prosecutor General's Office reported that it was investigating unauthorized access to more than 600,000 records in the Real Estate Register, which included, among other things, personal identification numbers. According to law enforcement officials, the access was obtained using compromised employee accounts belonging to the Migration Department.
As Ukrinform reported, Lithuania has the same intelligence regarding possible hybrid attacks by Russia as other countries in the region and its allies. This was stated by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys.
Photo: J. Kalinskas / BNS