Hackers have attacked Latvia’s road authority: 18 years’ worth of payment data and information on 1.2 million people have been stolen
As a result of a cyberattack on the Road Traffic Safety Directorate of Latvia, the attackers obtained the personal data of around 1.2 million people.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in a statement by Varis Teivans, deputy head of the Latvian Cyber Incident Prevention Agency.
The cybercriminals gained access to payment data that the CSDD had received over the past 18 years.
What data did the attackers get hold of?
Maris Purins, Head of the IT Department at CSDD, stated that the organisation’s customers’ contact details had not been compromised. This refers to telephone numbers and email addresses.
According to him, the address details obtained by the perpetrators are not always incomplete.
Purinš added that last weekend the CSDD faced yet another targeted cyberattack. Thanks to measures taken to strengthen security, it was successfully blocked.
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs has not ruled out the possibility that another state may have been behind the cyberattack. However, the specific perpetrator has not yet been identified.
The President of Latvia has described the attack as a threat to national security
The President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, stated that the cyberattack and the large-scale data breach pose a serious threat to national security.
"The reputation of the Road Traffic Authority and public confidence in this institution have been damaged. Under these circumstances, the management of the Road Traffic Authority cannot continue to carry out its duties," wrote Rinkevičs.
Previously, following a cyberattack on Poland’s healthcare system, a data breach occurred affecting 19 million people.
