Colombia. This Thursday it was learned that there are already 34 institutions of the Colombian State that have been victims of a cyber attack of great proportions, whose origin is so far unknown.
The initial identification of the threat occurred last Tuesday, September 12, when it transpired that the government technology and data transfer provider, IFX Networks, had been breached by criminals.
Since then, the situation has worsened and as of Thursday, 64 pages affected by the most serious external Ransomware virus of recent times have been identified.
Some of the official institutions whose digital operations have been affected are the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Judicial Branch, the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), as well as the Superintendence of Health. Violations have also been recorded in entities such as Coljuegos and the Colombian Red Cross.
Suspend judicial terms
Although the IFX provider reported that its technical team is working on the restoration of its services, it seems that the situation will not be resolved in the short term.
One of the most significant and serious affectations has occurred in the Colombian Judicial Branch. With millions of processes interrupted by the cybersecurity contingency, the authorities announced the suspension of the judicial terms from this Thursday, September 14, until Wednesday, September 20.
"It is not possible to restore the service immediately and in order to ensure access and services for the administration of justice, due process and other procedural guarantees, the Superior Council of the Judiciary considers it necessary to suspend judicial terms, except for habeas corpus tutela actions and the function of control of guarantees in the national territory," communicated the Judicial Branch.
In turn, the Attorney General's Office of Colombia announced that it is already carrying out the corresponding investigations to determine where the attack came from and counteract it.
Private companies, also in check
This week there have been reports of affectations, caused by the same cyber threat, in 762 companies in countries such as Chile, Argentina and Panama.
So far, the actors behind the virus have not made their claims known. However, the authorities believe that the episodes in these countries are correlated with what happened in Colombia and that they are data hijackings.
