Lithuanian speaker says politicians did not intentionally hide Registry Centre data breach

The speaker of Lithuania’s parliament, Juozas Olekas, has stated that government ministers did not deliberately conceal information about the mass data breach at the country’s Registry Centre (RC), though questions remain over why the incident was not disclosed earlier, LRT reports.

Olekas told Žinių Radijas on Wednesday that it was still unclear whether ministers who learned of the breach in April withheld details due to a request from law enforcement—or chose independently not to alert the public to avoid causing alarm.

“Two key questions need answering: was this a request from investigators to keep the information confidential while they conducted their probe, or was it the decision of those in charge to avoid panicking people by not releasing the details? Right now, I don’t have that precise information,” Olekas said.

He added that he did not believe there was “malicious intent or an attempt to hide” the breach, suggesting officials simply received the information and took no further action.

Olekas personally argued that disclosure would have been preferable to secrecy. “I think it’s better to publish than to keep it hidden,” he said.

The breach, first detected by the Registry Centre in April, involved unauthorised access to over 600,000 property registry records—including personal identification numbers—via compromised Migration Department accounts. Investigators suspect the initial unauthorised access dates back to early 2026, with foreign hackers likely responsible.

Prime Minister Ingrida Ruginienė met with the ministers of economy, interior, and national defence on Wednesday to discuss the incident. The Prosecutor General’s Office is investigating the case as a potential large-scale data theft.

Olekas confirmed his own personal data was not among the leaked records. He called for a review of protocols governing how top officials and the public are informed about major security incidents.