Conti Striking Latin America Ruthlessly

Conti group has threatened to release troves of stolen data from the Costa Rican government has now hit Peru’s intelligence agency.

Conti on April 27 had hacked the website of Peru’s National Directorate of Intelligence, and threatened to publish stolen data, if ransom is not paid.

Comti group has said that it planned to publish the 46 gigabytes of information it stole from the country’s finance and labor ministries, as well as other government agencies if 10 million USD ransom not paid but Costa Rica has thus far refused to pay.

Cyberattacks on Latin American governments has become increasingly apparent in recent years. Costa Rica and Peru are just the latest targets in a region where institutions lack the resources or capabilities to defend their critical digital infrastructure.

Conti’s message to the National Directorate of Intelligence specifically noted that there was no data encryption on the network.

According to AdvIntel, a lack of technical expertise and cybercrime legislation are at the root of Latin America’s digital vulnerabilities. At the beginning of 2020, just 12 of the 33 countries in the region had an approved national cybersecurity strategy.