Uruguay said Monday that it is investigating a “computer security incident” that exposed the personal information of President Yamandú Orsi and included allegations of “political corruption” and threats to leaders and officials.
The cyber-attack – which local outlets reported allegedly originated in Argentina – was directed against the website of the National Directorate of Civil Aviation and Aeronautical Infrastructure (DINACIA), part of the Defence Ministry.
After a brief outrage, it returned to "functioning normally,” said an official statement.
The text added that “after a thorough analysis conducted by the cybersecurity team of the Interior Ministry, no evidence of irregular access to the Public Security Management System (SGSP)” was detected, as had been reported earlier in the day by several media outlets.
Local journalist Eduardo Preve claimed on his X socialmedia account that "the attack came from Argentina and was carried out by La Pampa Leaks," in collaboration with BogotaLeaks & Uruguayo1337, citing information from BreachForums Internet forum.
In a screenshot of the DINACIA website, circulated by several media outlets, photos of President Orsi and Agecic's Security Director Mauricio Papaleo can be seen, allegedly taken from their identity documents.
Orsi's personal mobile phone also reportedly appeared, but it was not shown in the published material.
The cybercrime unit of the national police and the Agency for Electronic Government and Information and Knowledge Society (AGESIC) “are investigating the origin of this incident with the aim of identifying who is responsible,” he said.
Press reports claimed that the DINACIA's website was breached on Monday with information extracted on Friday from the SGSP.
In addition to the photos, the following message was posted on the website during the attack: “Uruguay is getting worse and worse, there is more political corruption, more mafias, more poverty and the only thing the people see in the state's response are political agendas dictated by the 2030 agenda and the WEF," referring to the World Economic Forum.
“We are tired of progressivism, the lies of politicians and above all the fact that Uruguay's image is declining. Uruguay needs rulers, not puppets,” it adds.
“We have access to all the addresses, SGSP records, secrets and files of every politician and public official. We know who they are, we know where they are and we will make them pay for what they are doing to Uruguay,” the text concludes.
The Presidential Secretariat for Institutional Communication, which issued an official response, assured that “there is no data” in its possession “that has been compromised.”
Dinacia Director Leonardo Blengini told the El Observador newspaper that “a patch had been created on top of the portal,” a sort of “photo” placed on top, but he ruled out any evidence of access to the interior of the government's website.
— TIMES/AFP
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