Lithuania’s economy minister says data breach at Registry Centre has damaged public trust in state

Lithuania’s data protection crisis deepened Thursday as Economy and Innovation Minister Edvinas Grikšas acknowledged that a massive data leak from the country’s Registry Centre (RC) has “undoubtedly” eroded public trust in the state’s ability to safeguard personal information, LRT reports.

“I have no doubt,” Grikšas told Žinių Radijas when asked whether the breach had shaken confidence in state institutions. “Every data leak, every cyberattack that occurs, undermines trust in public institutions and in the state as a whole. Such incidents cannot be allowed to repeat.”

The minister confirmed that an in-depth cybersecurity audit of the RC, conducted with the National Cyber Security Centre (NKSC), found current systems to be secure. However, he warned that continuous improvement is critical as cyber threats evolve. “Technologically, we must advance faster than those trying to break in,” he stated.

Prosecutors launched a pre-trial investigation last month after reports that over 600,000 property registry records—worth an estimated €111,000 in damages—may have been leaked. Former RC director Adrijus Jusas, who resigned amid the scandal, claimed the breach was detected in early April but that legal restrictions tied to the ongoing probe delayed public disclosure.

Opposition factions in the Seimas (parliament) have announced plans to form a temporary investigative commission to examine the circumstances of the large-scale data compromise.