Bijna honderd notariskantoren slachtoffer van hacker | VPNGids.nl
Nearly a hundred notary offices victim of hacker
Anton MousAnton Mous
Reading time: 2 minutes
Gepubliceerd: 20-04-2021
Rolled up will with pen and notary stamp
© Burdun Iliya / Shutterstock.com
96 notary offices have become the victims of a cyber attack. On Friday morning, April 16, ICT supplier Managed IT from Nieuwegein was hacked by an unknown attacker. As a precaution, the company and a number of notarial software suppliers have shut down their servers and databases.
The Royal Dutch Association of Civil-law Notaries (KNB) announced this in a press release.
Notary offices difficult to reach
The cyber attack was spotted on Friday morning last week. Managed IT took immediate action by disconnecting the servers and databases to which a number of notarial software suppliers are linked. 96 notary offices were therefore unable to work digitally at that time. They were also difficult to reach for customers.
In a second press release (press release no longer available on site source) the KNB says that the problems have not yet been resolved. On Monday, the affected notary offices could not pass any deeds. “These notary offices try to inform their clients of that day as well as possible. Unfortunately, this is not always possible because the hack prevents them from having access to contact information of their customers, ”writes the KNB. People who cannot contact their notary can call or email the KNB.
Unclear what happened Friday morning
Because notaries have access to the contact details of their clients, they cannot inform them about the consequences of the cyber attack. Also, customers cannot go to their notary to, for example, sign the purchase agreement for a house or draw up a will. A civil-law notary uses various systems to conduct digital research. Think of the registry office, the Land Registry and lenders. Due to the loss of connection to servers and databases, notaries are currently unable to do their work.
The website of ICT administrator Managed IT is down. A spokesperson for the KNB confirms to Computable that many notary offices are difficult to reach. The tech site asked Managed IT for a response, but refers them to CSIRT DSP, the Cyber Security Incident Response Team for Digital Service Providers. The group provides support and advice to digital service providers on the security of their network and information systems.
CSIRT DSP, in turn, says it does not respond to current affairs.
What is going on?
Details about the attack are currently lacking. As a result, we cannot say exactly what is going on, who is responsible for the attack and whether this person or organization has asked for a ransom. A number of scenarios are conceivable.
One of these is that the perpetrators have carried out a ransomware attack . The attackers then managed to penetrate their target's servers or computer systems and install ransomware. With this software, they can encrypt business-sensitive documents and confidential information. Employees will then not be able to open files.
To remove the lock, the victim will need a key or decryptor . Only if the victim pays a ransom will they get it. If they fail to do so, the attackers threaten to make the stolen information public, often via the dark web . Fearing damage and the fact that every day that work cannot be done costs a lot of money, victims often choose to pay the requested ransom. Depending on the size of the company, this amount can run into the millions.
It is also conceivable that the perpetrators carried out a Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attack . They then try to shut down the computer network by bombarding it with large amounts of data and connection requests. Sooner or later, the systems become overloaded, causing them to stop responding to legitimate requests. The purpose of a DDoS attack is often to halt the business operations of a company.
Anton MousAnton Mous
Reading time: 2 minutes
Gepubliceerd: 20-04-2021
Rolled up will with pen and notary stamp
© Burdun Iliya / Shutterstock.com
96 notary offices have become the victims of a cyber attack. On Friday morning, April 16, ICT supplier Managed IT from Nieuwegein was hacked by an unknown attacker. As a precaution, the company and a number of notarial software suppliers have shut down their servers and databases.
The Royal Dutch Association of Civil-law Notaries (KNB) announced this in a press release.
Notary offices difficult to reach
The cyber attack was spotted on Friday morning last week. Managed IT took immediate action by disconnecting the servers and databases to which a number of notarial software suppliers are linked. 96 notary offices were therefore unable to work digitally at that time. They were also difficult to reach for customers.
In a second press release (press release no longer available on site source) the KNB says that the problems have not yet been resolved. On Monday, the affected notary offices could not pass any deeds. “These notary offices try to inform their clients of that day as well as possible. Unfortunately, this is not always possible because the hack prevents them from having access to contact information of their customers, ”writes the KNB. People who cannot contact their notary can call or email the KNB.
Unclear what happened Friday morning
Because notaries have access to the contact details of their clients, they cannot inform them about the consequences of the cyber attack. Also, customers cannot go to their notary to, for example, sign the purchase agreement for a house or draw up a will. A civil-law notary uses various systems to conduct digital research. Think of the registry office, the Land Registry and lenders. Due to the loss of connection to servers and databases, notaries are currently unable to do their work.
The website of ICT administrator Managed IT is down. A spokesperson for the KNB confirms to Computable that many notary offices are difficult to reach. The tech site asked Managed IT for a response, but refers them to CSIRT DSP, the Cyber Security Incident Response Team for Digital Service Providers. The group provides support and advice to digital service providers on the security of their network and information systems.
CSIRT DSP, in turn, says it does not respond to current affairs.
What is going on?
Details about the attack are currently lacking. As a result, we cannot say exactly what is going on, who is responsible for the attack and whether this person or organization has asked for a ransom. A number of scenarios are conceivable.
One of these is that the perpetrators have carried out a ransomware attack . The attackers then managed to penetrate their target's servers or computer systems and install ransomware. With this software, they can encrypt business-sensitive documents and confidential information. Employees will then not be able to open files.
To remove the lock, the victim will need a key or decryptor . Only if the victim pays a ransom will they get it. If they fail to do so, the attackers threaten to make the stolen information public, often via the dark web . Fearing damage and the fact that every day that work cannot be done costs a lot of money, victims often choose to pay the requested ransom. Depending on the size of the company, this amount can run into the millions.
It is also conceivable that the perpetrators carried out a Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attack . They then try to shut down the computer network by bombarding it with large amounts of data and connection requests. Sooner or later, the systems become overloaded, causing them to stop responding to legitimate requests. The purpose of a DDoS attack is often to halt the business operations of a company.
