Interior Ministry Clarifies Information on Center of Registers Data Leak

Lithuania's Ministry of the Interior (VRM) is providing clarifications regarding a significant data leak incident that originated from the Center of Registers (RC). The ministry has confirmed that the minister's earlier statement about a 100,000 euro "bill" pertained to the state's financial damage resulting from the leaked data.

Minister V. Kondratovičius had stated that upon understanding the scope of the leak from the RC, the ministry was presented with a bill of 100,000 euros for the data. This was reportedly the first time the ministry had received such a charge. His advisor, Mindaugas Bajarūnas, later confirmed to ELTA that the minister was indeed referring to the state's incurred damage due to the data leak.

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When we (...) understood from Registers (RC) (...) when he started saying that this is global, we didn't even know the scale (of this data leak incident – ELTA). We only received maybe April 15 or 12 (...) from them a bill to pay 100,000 (euros – ELTA) for that data. We never received one, this is the first time.

The General Prosecutor's Office is currently investigating the alleged leak of more than 600,000 real estate registry extracts from the RC. The financial damage incurred from this incident is estimated to be at least 111,000 euros. Arūnas Maskoliūnas, head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, confirmed in late May that the data had been leaked through the Migration Department, which is under the purview of the VRM.

Earlier, V. Kondratovičius had mentioned that in mid-February, it was reported that a citizen was inquiring about why their property was being investigated by the Migration Department. This prompted the ministry to suspect a potential data leak. To investigate, the ministry's subordinate IRD required authorization to access records from the RC, for which a fee of 2.64 euros was paid. The minister noted a delay in identifying the source of the access, as the RC records initially indicated the VRM rather than the specific department involved.

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We clarify that the Minister of the Interior V. Kondratovičius, when speaking about the 100,000 euro bill, actually meant the state's damage incurred for the data being leaked from the Center of Registers.