Ukraine’s State Registers Restored Following Cyber-Attack – Source: www.infosecurity-magazine.com

The infrastructure of Ukraine’s state registers has been fully restored following a large-scale cyber-attack which was attributed to Russia’s military intelligence services (GRU).

Olga Stefanishyna, the Ukrainian Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, announced in a Facebook post on January 20 that the Unified and State Registers were now “fully operational.”

Russian attackers were unsuccessful in their objectives during the cyber-attack and no information from the registers was compromised, Stefanishyna said.

“Step by step, we have restored key registers for notaries, followed by the civil registry office, the Unified State Register and have now completed the restoration of the remaining parts of the registers,” she added.

The Ministry of Justice, which oversees the state registers, is now updating the registers to add data entered during the restoration period.

Largest Russian Cyber-Attack Targeting Ukraine

The cyber-attack, dubbed “the largest Russian hack” to target Ukraine, occurred on December 19, 2024, and resulted in a temporary suspension of access to the registers.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) promptly attributed the hack to the GRU and opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

“It’s clear that the attack was made by the Russians in order to disrupt the work of the critically important infrastructure of the state,” Stefanishyna said in December. “The enemy is trying to use this situation in his intelligence operations to sow panic among citizens of Ukraine and abroad.”

Intermediary recovery steps were announced in early January with the restoration of the civil registry officeand the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Organizations.

Ukraine’s National Information Systems Under Investigation

In her latest Facebook message, Stefanishyna said the Ukrainian government has “learned important lessons” from this attack and is implementing key changes.

These include cutting ties between the state registers and Ukraine’s National Information Systems (NAIS), which has been audited for security shortcomings and is now under investigation.

There are also plans to create a network of cybersecurity specialists in all government agencies.