Hackers broke into Liechtenstein’s beneficial ownership register and copied records covering about 31,000 companies, foundations and trusts. The attack was detected during the night of 29-30 July, when the system was taken offline and a crisis team was assembled.
The database, known as the VwbP, was introduced in 2021 as part of European efforts to increase transparency around corporate ownership. It was designed to stop criminals from using anonymous structures to launder money, and it gives financial institutions and law enforcement a way to check who truly controls an entity. Prime Minister Brigitte Haas and Justice Minister Emanuel Schädler are leading the response, and authorities say there is no evidence that the hackers changed or deleted anything; they appear to have copied the files before the registry was pulled offline.
The breach did not expose bank account numbers or client balances, according to the government. What was taken is a detailed map of ownership links, and that alone can be used for blackmail, economic espionage, phishing attacks or building profiles of wealthy individuals. People with large fortunes, political exposure or international business interests may be particularly vulnerable.
Data map with real value
Liechtenstein has built its financial industry on discreet structures, including asset-protection foundations, holding companies and trusts. The country has only around 40,000 residents, but thousands of registered legal entities are used by entrepreneurs and investors from around the world. That makes the scale of this leak striking: data on roughly 31,000 entities were taken from a jurisdiction of only about 40,000 people.
The register was created precisely to reduce the ability to hide true asset owners. It was one of the tools financial institutions and law enforcement agencies could use to detect suspicious money movements, and its compromise raises questions about how such sensitive state databases are protected across Europe.
Small state, global impact
Simon Tribelhorn, director of the Liechtenstein Bankers Association, told Reuters that the banking sector was not directly affected, but the event is serious and should not be underestimated. The authorities have not named any suspects and have not said whether the stolen information has already been used. An investigation is underway, and officials plan to contact people and companies whose records may have been involved.
The incident fits into a broader European move to establish central company-owner registers as a barrier against money laundering. The more information states gather on asset owners, the more important protecting that information becomes; in Liechtenstein, the registry had to be disconnected from the network as soon as the intrusion was found.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. amgun / Shutterstock
