Wave of Cyberattacks Target Greece’s Land Registry Dept

Greece's Land Registry Department, also known as the Hellenic Cadastre, has faced over 400 cyberattacks within a week. These attacks, aimed at compromising the agency's IT infrastructure, resulted in a limited data breach.

Hackers stole 1.2 GB of data from employee terminals — only a minuscule portion (0.0006%) of the organization's total data. The stolen data primarily included administrative documents and did not contain the personal information of any citizens.

The ministry emphasized that the central database was not successfully accessed, and an attempt to exfiltrate data to an external server was blocked.

The Cybersecurity Directorate of the General Staff of National Defense confirmed that no ransomware was detected on the breached systems. As a precaution, all employees were instructed to change their passwords and implement two-factor authentication. Additionally, VPN access was terminated to prevent further unauthorized access.

The continuous operation of digital services ensured that transactions were not affected, maintaining normal functionality for citizens. The last recorded attack, taking place at 5 a.m. on July 19, 2024, was successfully thwarted, as reported by BleepingComputer.

The Information Society recently launched an international tender to enhance public sector information and system security, including the Land Registry, funded by a €47.3 million contract from the Recovery Fund. This contract aims to evaluate readiness against cyberattacks and update technological equipment.

Greece also announced in January 2024 the establishment of a new authority dedicated to countering such threats. This new agency will focus on bolstering national cyber defenses and improving coordination among various government bodies. According to Balkan Insight, this initiative is part of a broader strategy to strengthen the country's resilience against cyber threats, ensuring better protection for critical infrastructure and public services.