2023-09-14 20:53:02
– Colombia targeted by a massive cyberattack
A cyberattack targeted the Colombian state’s main telecommunications service provider on Tuesday, notably impacting government sites.
Published: 09/14/2023, 10:53 p.m.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in Costa Rica, August 28, 2023.
AFP
A massive cyberattack has been targeting government sites in Colombia since Tuesday, at least thirty of which have been affected to date, with consequences in several other Latin American countries, we learned from reliable Colombian sources.
This cyberattack targeted the main telecommunications service provider of the Colombian state, the company IFX Networks, on Tuesday, said a press release from the presidency. The government urgently set up “a unified cybersecurity command post (PMU Ciber), in order to assess the damage and resolve the effects of the incident which affected several entities,” explains this press release.
“We are examining which other public entities may have been affected, in order to know the real impact in Colombia. It is important to clarify that the incident occurred once morest the service provider IFX Networks, and not once morest public entities,” says the Digital Directorate of the Colombian Presidency.
«Ransomware»
“This external ransomware attack (ransomware, a type of malicious program that encrypts data and makes it accessible for ransom) affects 762 companies in Latin America, with IFX providing data to a total of 17 countries on this continent,” adds the text.
According to the national press, it extends to Argentina, Panama and Chile and its consequences would be “gigantic”. A total of 34 Colombian state entities are affected, including the Ministries of Health and Justice, with two million legal proceedings currently paralyzed, according to the press.
Citing a digital security advisor to the presidency, the daily El Tiempo assures that “cybercriminals have misappropriated information (…) from the Ministry of Health and the judiciary”, demanding a ransom “in cryptocurrencies”.
“Minimize the impact”
“This attack can be considered the largest on infrastructure in Colombia in recent years,” commented on the X network another government advisor for digital, Saul Kattan, who pleaded for the urgent creation of a national security agency for digital.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health said it was “implementing alternative mechanisms to ensure the continuity of the functioning of the health sector nationally, in order to minimize the impact on the functioning of affected applications”.
The sites of several hospitals in the country are already blocked, according to a Colombian account on X specializing in hacking and cybersecurity. On Thursday, the Ministry of Culture announced that its various sites “were no longer available”.
AFP
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