After the cyber attack, the real estate registry is still not functioning

After the cyber attack, the real estate registry is still not functioning

In Ukraine, due to a cyberattack, the real estate registry is not working, among others. However, experts and representatives of the Ministry of Justice assure that hackers have not been able to access Ukrainians’ data and cannot change information regarding property ownership.

MP Ihor Fris, who heads the parliamentary working group dealing with the consequences of the cyberattack, assures that all data is preserved, reports BBC. Recently, the first meeting of the working group took place, where law enforcement and the Ministry of Justice assured MPs that there was no data leakage. They plan to develop changes to protect Ukrainians’ data in the future.

"No changes, modifications, or destruction of information occurred. There are databases and archives that allow for the restoration of information," said Ihor Fris after the working group’s meeting. According to him, during the attack, the architecture of the registries was breached, including access to them and interaction between them.

"For example, when it’s necessary to obtain information from the registries for conducting competitive procedures, or when the tax authority requests information from the registries of legal entities — this is currently impossible. But the information itself is preserved," notes the MP.

Regarding the protection of Ukrainians’ property, the Ministry of Justice states that it’s currently impossible to either obtain data or make changes to the State Register of Rights to Real Estate. Therefore, there can be no abuses. "All actions in the registry are automatically recorded: who, when, and what registration action was performed. Discussions about the risk of illegal possession of property due to limited access to the registry are manipulation," they note in the Ministry of Justice.

For over a week now, notaries have been without access to the State Register of Rights to Real Estate, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Formations, forms, powers of attorney, as well as to many other registries.

Since the attack, notaries in Ukraine have not been able to conduct any real estate purchase agreements. No registry has resumed its operation. There is only a limited list of notarial actions that notaries can perform without access to the registries: certifying wills, powers of attorney, verifying signature authenticity, and attesting the accuracy of copies.

"Later, when we regain access, we will have to enter all this into the registries," explains Nataliya Kozayeva, a private notary, and member of the Council of the Notarial Chamber of Ukraine. Currently, it is impossible to: register a business or public organization, change the registration of residence; obtain information from the State Land Cadastre containing information from the state register of rights to real estate.

"A request to everyone: don’t panic, do not try to access the registries, do not contact Administrative Services Centers, do not come to notaries and registrars," says Nataliya Tkachuk, head of the Volodymyrets Administrative Services Center in the Rivne region, in a comment to volodymyrets.city.