Ukraine denies information leak after Russian cyberattack on state digital government services

The cyberattack on state registries administered by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine did not affect other state information systems, including the Diia app, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna said.

Stefanishyna said on the briefing , according to hromadske that the head of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection did not confirm the data leak.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported that they cannot yet deny that a data leak occurred.

The attack, which occurred on 19 December, targeted multiple government databases and was the largest cyber attack on state registries in recent times. According to Stefanishyna, recovery is expected to take up to two weeks.

The hackers claimed they destroyed all data they accessed, including backups on servers in Poland.  The massive cyber attack on Ukraine's state registries was prepared over several months, but the SBU said they cannot disclose details about its preparation.

The Ministry of Justice will prioritize restoring the unified registry of powers of attorney, the unified registry of special forms, notarial documents, and the inheritance registry to ensure proper accounting and minimize negative consequences.

During a joint press conference, Olha Stefanishyna and an SBU representative announced that Ukriane launched a criminal investigation into the cyber attack, which may have been carried out by a GRU (Russian Military Intelligence) hacking group.

The SBU could not answer whether the Russia gained access to the registry information. Stefanishyna said there are backup copies of the registries for the entire period, so when it's safe, they will restore their operation to normal, and there is no risk of irreversibility.

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