VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Officials in Lithuania are investigating what they believe was a state-sponsored cyberattack that compromised more than 600,000 records from government databases.
On Friday, Lithuania’s general prosecutor’s office revealed that hackers gained access to property and business registry information by using stolen login credentials belonging to organizations with authorized access to the databases.
Adrijus Jusas, who led the State Enterprise Centre of Registers, stepped down from his position on Monday in the wake of the security breach.
In response to the incident, officials quickly put new cybersecurity protocols in place, which included shutting down accounts belonging to users under suspicion and requiring all users to create new login credentials, according to prosecutors.
While prosecutors indicated they believe another nation orchestrated the attack, they have not identified which country they suspect.
The breach has heightened concerns in Lithuania, a nation of 2.9 million people that faces ongoing threats from Russia’s hybrid warfare campaign targeting Europe, which encompasses sabotage operations, arson incidents, vandalism, and propaganda efforts.
On Sunday, opposition politician Laurynas Kasčiūnas posted on social media that he believes Russian intelligence services were behind the data theft, though he provided no supporting evidence for his assertion.
The politician expressed concern that the stolen information could include home addresses of intelligence operatives, service members, diplomatic staff, or elected officials, potentially enabling foreign actors to conduct surveillance or intimidation campaigns against these individuals.
