The solution to the issue affecting the National Cadastre and Real Estate Advertising Agency (ANCPI) is still being worked on, and ANCPI is fully responsible for isolating its vulnerabilities, acting Minister of Economy, Digital Transformation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Irineu Darau said on Monday.

'The fix for last week's problems is still in progress. It is entirely ANCPI's responsibility to isolate such vulnerabilities, solve them quickly and find solutions when incidents occur. I want to thank other state institutions, especially the National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC), for intervening immediately with specialists to limit any additional impact and begin corrective work,' Darau said on broadcaster Digi24.

His comments come after ANCPI was targeted by a cyberattack last week.

According to the minister, it is not yet clear when all ANCPI services will be fully operational again.

'We must assess how this period has affected potential buyers and find solutions either in government or in Parliament, but I cannot anticipate them now. The priority lies with ANCPI, as the responsible institution, after which we must identify the appropriate legal solution, especially with a government operating with limited powers. There will be an extraordinary parliamentary session for NRRP-related urgencies in the coming days or weeks. We also cannot ignore that some services have been unavailable for more than a week. This situation needs to be discussed at a broad political scale,' Darau added.

He emphasized that every institution must treat cybersecurity as a top priority.

'Institutions must collaborate with all relevant authorities, especially DNSC. The legislation is clear: institutions with critical infrastructure must be registered, must send alerts on time, and must follow DNSC's guidance. Otherwise, we leave technical openings in security systems without realising it. Cyber risk can never be reduced to zero,' the minister said.

In his view, many institutions - including ANCPI - need to strengthen their cybersecurity prevention and reinforce the security of their software systems.

'From what I know, there has been extensive correspondence between ANCPI, DNSC and possibly other institutions in recent years. DNSC warns many state institutions, including ministries, about potential vulnerabilities. My public appeal to every leader of a critical-infrastructure institution is to take these warnings seriously. ANCPI could have done much more preventive work and we might have been better prepared for such attacks,' Darau underlined.

He also noted that many rumours have circulated in recent days regarding cyberattacks on institutions.

'These attacks are complex, and there are many technical entry points if systems are not properly secured. It's not about simple passwords - there are numerous other vulnerabilities, including exploitable software,' he said.

Darau added that once ANCPI completes its remediation, the institution must communicate clearly what data, if any, was exposed or lost.

According to the minister, ANCPI is currently working to restore all data.

'Cybersecurity in every institution - including the ministry, the Authority for Romania's Digitalisation (ADR) and DNSC - depends on people. As discussions on the wage law continue, the ministry has proposed that software specialists and cybersecurity experts be paid very well. Without strong professionals in the public sector, comparable to those in the private sector, we only pretend to do digitalisation and cybersecurity. DNSC must be strengthened, as it is one of our main shields and the institution that intervenes immediately when issues arise,' Darau said.

ANCPI announced on July 15 that it had been the target of a cyberattack that caused the most extensive technical outage in its history. The attack disabled the e-Terra system starting July 14, blocking real-estate transactions nationwide just before August 1, when VAT on new housing is set to rise from 9% to 21%.

ANCPI stated that the data managed through its IT systems is safe and was not compromised. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Cristian Anghelache; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)