Moldova: cyberattack on government systems steals personal data of about 750,000 citizens
Hackers extracted personal data linked to about 750,000 personal identification numbers from Moldova's government systems, the e-Government Agency said. President Maia Sandu has called a meeting of the country's security council, the agency's director has been dismissed, and the prime minister points to a wider campaign involving foreign state actors.
Moldova's e-Government Agency (AGE) said on Wednesday, 28 October, that a cyberattack on government information systems had led to the unauthorised extraction of data linked to about 750,000 IDNPs, the personal identification numbers every Moldovan citizen holds. The country has a population of roughly 2.4 million.
The stolen information is wide-ranging: names, dates and places of birth, details about close family members, health insurance status and family doctor, social benefits, pensions and disability status, driving licences, photographs, vehicles and companies owned or managed, and financial data including bank account numbers (IBAN), tax debts and payment history on the state MPay platform. The agency said bank card data was not affected.
Serghei Diaconu, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, said the data cannot be used directly to commit crimes, but warned that fraudsters may call people pretending to be from their bank, customs or other authorities, address them by name and quote stolen details to trick them into handing over information that is "already dangerous".
President Maia Sandu has called a meeting of the Supreme Security Council in the coming days to review the attack and the response. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan dismissed the agency's director, Nicoleta Colomeeț, and asked it to put more emphasis on the security of digital services. Tofan said Moldova is the target of large-scale cyberattacks and that the authorities have indications of "a broader campaign involving foreign state actors", whose possible role in this incident is being investigated.