Posted on 05/12/2022 3:47:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Hackers crippled computer networks across multiple government agencies, including the Finance Ministry
Costa Rica has declared a state of emergency after ransomware hackers crippled computer networks across multiple government agencies, including the Finance Ministry.
The official declaration, published on a government website Wednesday, said that the attack was “unprecedented in the country” and that it interrupted the country’s tax collection and exposed citizens’ personal information.
The hackers initially broke into the Finance Ministry on April 12, it said. They were able to spread to other agencies, including the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications and the National Meteorological Institute.
Leon Weinstok, the director of the Costa Rica office of the law firm BLP, who specializes in cybersecurity law, said the attack had severely affected the country’s ability to function.
“The government has been really, really affected. It is impossible to quantify the losses at this time,” Weinstok said.
Let the testing begin.
Nice people the Russians.
Six month trial.
One second justice.
Probably some Ukrainians, grubbing for money.
LOL. Where will they arrest them?
With all the things they have to hunt us down, you’d think
they would work to solve the issue with people doing things
like this.
I know our LE agencies are busy hunting down innocent Trump
supporters, but this is important too.
But the people who did this will probably be outside of the Costa Rican government's jurisdiction.
More likely NSA telling Costa Rica not to stray into China economic orbit
That’s a good point, but the U. S. isn’t bashful about helping
in instances like this.
Even then, I don’t know if they could help or not, so I
don’t fault your response.
It just seems they have a real screwed up sense of
priorities these days.
Wait until it happens here! To much stuff on computers.
“Probably some Ukrainians, grubbing for money.”
This is true only if the incredible Ukrainian cybercriminals stole the Conti ransomware from the Russians who created it.
“Why would U.S. law enforcement be involved?”
Because where this attack was from the Russian Conti gang then there’s valuable information to be gleaned from the forensics. Plus the US has the capability to help the Ticos restore and recover from the attack.
Ah the Russians. You meant like it was the Russians that hacked the DNC?
From the source article:
Costa Rica’s president, Rodrigo Chaves, just took office Sunday. The emergency declaration gives him the authority to hire external cybersecurity experts without waiting for permission from the country’s legislative assembly, Weinstok said.
Conti, one of the most destructive active ransomware gangs, is responsible for the attack. Ransomware groups often try to extort victims by threatening to publish stolen data, and Conti published a large cache of documents, alleged to be from Costa Rican government sites, to its dark web site Sunday.
Conti is perhaps most infamous for hacking and severely disrupting Ireland’s national health care system last year. While membership in ransomware gangs is often fluid, the gang is largely made up of Russian and Eastern European hackers. It declared its allegiance to Russia when the country invaded Ukraine in February, said Brett Callow, a ransomware analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft.
On Friday, the U.S. State Department said the group was responsible for the Costa Rica hack and offered a $10 million reward for help bringing Conti hackers to justice.
Does this mean I can’t get all my liquor there anymore?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.