Ukraine says Russian cyberattack hits state registries but no data lost

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By Yuliia Dysa

(Reuters) – A Russian cyberattack on Ukraine’s justice ministry registries caused a shutdown of online services for marriages and other matters, but no data appears to have been leaked or stolen, the Ukrainian government said on Friday.

Russia took several months to prepare the cyberattack, which was the largest to target Ukraine’s state registries in recent times, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, who is also justice minister, told reporters at a briefing in Kyiv.

Online services to register matters like marriages, cars, births or a change of residence in Ukraine were suspended, the government service platform said.

The attack sought to “instil panic among Ukrainian citizens and those abroad,” Stefanishyna said.

The Ukrainian security service’s cyber department said their main line of investigation was that a hacker group affiliated with Russian military intelligence (GRU) was behind the attack. There was no comment from Russia.

“Data leakage is not confirmed as of now… At this stage, all registries are suspended for security purposes,” Stefanishyna said.

All the data would restored, she added. It could take up to two weeks to restore basic services, she said.

As of Friday afternoon, the ministry’s website said it was undergoing “technical maintenance”.

Both Russia and Ukraine have been hit by cyberattacks on their infrastructure during their 33-month-long war. Ukraine’s biggest mobile network operator was attacked last December.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; editing by Tom Balmforth and Angus MacSwan)