Romania’s Central Depository (Depozitarul Central), the country’s central securities depository and part of the Bucharest Stock Exchange group, says it was the target of a cyberattack on its online app for investors. A notice to users, as quoted by Romanian media, says attackers viewed personal data including national ID numbers, ID card details and bank account (IBAN) codes. The depository says its settlement and registry functions were not affected.
The quotes below are TSN’s translations from Romanian.
What the depository confirmed
In a press release carried by the national news agency Agerpres on Friday 16 October, the depository said it “was the target of a cyberattack which targeted the Online Services for Investors application”. It said the incident was “identified on the day it occurred” and that it immediately took the necessary investigation and remediation measures. It did not say what day that was.
The depository describes the application as “auxiliary” to its main system. It is used to create user accounts for “investors (Romanian individuals)” who want to access the depository’s online services.
“The incident had no consequences for the critical and important services and functions of the Central Depository relating to settlement and registry, which are operating under normal conditions,” the release says. It adds that holdings of financial instruments and information on settled transactions “were not accessed, modified and/or altered”.
The depository said it had informed the relevant authorities and is working with them to analyse the incident, and that it has intensified monitoring of its systems. Investors can still use all its services, including those normally offered through the app, by post or in person at the counter of its secondary office.
What data was viewed
The press release does not list the data involved. That detail comes from a notice sent to app users, as quoted by Ziare.com citing Economica.net. “From the information we hold so far, as a result of the cyberattack, personal data of our users were viewed, namely data used in the enrolment/account-creation process: name and surname, address, personal numeric code, ID card series and number, email address, phone number, IBAN code, these not being modified and/or altered,” the notice says.
The personal numeric code (CNP) is Romania’s national identification number. According to the notice, users’ passwords for the app were not accessed. It says the app is “temporarily unavailable”.
Ziare, citing Profit.ro, reports that the depository notified Romania’s National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC) and called in specialists to handle the incident.
Advice to users
The notice urges users to use unique passwords. Even though their app password was not accessed, anyone who reuses the same password across several online services should change it and use distinct passwords. It also advises turning on two-step authentication where available, and not clicking suspicious links or responding to unsolicited emails, texts or calls asking for credentials or other personal data.
That last warning matters. A combination of names, addresses, ID numbers, phone numbers and IBANs gives scammers what they need for convincing phishing messages that appear to come from the depository or a bank.
The exchange says trading was not affected
The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), whose group includes the depository, said separately that its trading infrastructure and systems were not affected. “The attack did not affect the systems of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. They have functioned and continue to function within normal parameters,” it said in a statement reported by Agerpres.
What we don’t know
- How many users were affected. Neither the depository nor the user notice gives a number.
- Who carried out the attack. No attacker has been named and no group has claimed it.
- How the attackers got in, and exactly when. The attack vector and date have not been disclosed.
- When the app will be back online.
What this means
- Romania’s Central Depository confirms a cyberattack on its Online Services for Investors app. It says settlement, registry, holdings and settled-transaction data were not accessed.
- A user notice quoted by Romanian media says names, addresses, national ID numbers, ID card details, email addresses, phone numbers and IBANs were viewed, but not passwords.
- App users should watch for phishing that uses their personal details, and change any reused passwords.
Sources
- Depozitarul Central: press release on the cyberattack (Romanian, PDF)
- Agerpres: Depozitarul Central, ținta unui atac cibernetic (Romanian)
- Ziare.com: Atac cibernetic la Depozitarul Central (Romanian)
- Agerpres: BVB says trading systems not affected (Romanian)
- Depozitarul Central: about the depository, member of the BVB group (Romanian)
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