Hackers claim to breach Russian state agency managing property, land records

A gaggle of hackers with unknown ties has claimed duty for breaching a Russian authorities company, Rosreestr, which is chargeable for managing property and land information.

The group, which calls itself Silent Crow, created a Telegram channel in December to announce the breach, and Rosreestr is the one incident it has posted about. As proof of the hack, the group publicly launched a portion of a database containing names, dates of beginning, addresses, cellphone numbers, electronic mail addresses and particular person insurance coverage account numbers of Russian residents.

In an announcement earlier this week, Rosreestr denied that its techniques have been breached however stated it’s investigating the hackers’ claims.

Russian investigative journalists from the Agentstvo information outlet reported that they reviewed knowledge from a dozen randomly chosen entries within the leaked database and confirmed that every one chosen identities have been official. Some people additionally had property addresses that matched their residence addresses.

The alleged assault on the company got here simply weeks after a suspected Russian risk actor focused dozens of Ukrainian databases, which retailer official information, together with residents’ biometric knowledge, enterprise information, property possession, actual property transactions, authorized and court docket choices and tax information.

Entry to those registers was quickly suspended, leaving residents unable to entry important providers linked to their digital information. On Thursday, two weeks after the assault, Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice introduced that it had resumed the operation of one of many nation’s foremost state registers, in addition to a number of on-line providers that depend on data from these registers.

It stays unclear whether or not the reported assault on Rosreestr is a retaliation for the hack of Ukraine’s state registers.

In keeping with Russian investigative journalists, it’s attainable that Silent Crow is merely a pseudonym for a extra well-known hacker group that doesn’t wish to be recognized with the incident. If that is true, the scope of the leaked knowledge might be in depth, stated Andrey Soshnikov, editor-in-chief of the Russian publication Sistema, which focuses on investigations within the fields of know-how and cybersecurity.

Rosreestr has usually been utilized by unbiased media and opposition activists to uncover details about actual property owned by native state officers. Following a few of these experiences, the names of officers and their kinfolk have been both hidden or faraway from the registry. Below a brand new legislation adopted in 2023, particulars about Russian property house owners can now solely be disclosed with their consent.

Silent Crow has not revealed what it plans to do with the allegedly hacked knowledge, however relying on its motivation, the risk actor may both promote it or hand it over to Moscow’s enemies.

The group’s Telegram channel was blocked shortly after they introduced the hack, and it isn’t but clear the place the information was transferred. Nevertheless, the hackers warned that they have been making ready for an additional assault.

“Rosreestr has develop into a hanging instance of how massive authorities establishments can collapse in only a matter of days,” the group stated.

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