Currently the governments of the region are on alert for possible threats to their institutions. Although most cases occurred in isolation, Recently, the unit fell victim to data hijacking in Peru and another in Chile.

German Patino, Latin America Vice President of Sales at Lumu Technologies, notes that there have also been cases of information theft in Colombia and Mexico.

LAPSU $ is another group of cybercriminals who have been carrying out ransom-type attacks (data theft) on the continent for less than two months.

It is suggested that the strategy of these attacks in order to make money for the ransom of data works as follows:

1. Create a delay to get the government’s attention and start negotiating.

2. If there is a possibility that information may be lost during the intervention, cybercriminals threaten to disclose previously encrypted data by citizens and thus demand payment of a ransom.

3. If it is proven that the criminal group really has the information, they will Increase the amount requested from the said government.

4. Eventually, it will again increase the amount of money to millions of dollars, thereby threatening to make the seized information public.

However, Germany notes that despite this threat, The governments of the region are investing in cyber security.

In addition, he suggests that investing in cybersecurity is not the same as investing in security, as security systems often need to function, and it is here that public entities in Latin America have a weakness, since According to the ISC2 report, the cybersecurity talent gap is almost 70% on the subcontinent.

According to IBM, when an entity identifies an attack, the system is hacked 186 days in advance.

Recommendations to avoid ransom cases

– Do not ignore the warnings provided by cyber security systemsMust attend immediately.

– Increase the visibility of digital assets, ie monitor the threat status of all devices in the organization.

– By investing in cyber security, it is not necessary to assume that a person is protected, but, on the contrary, to use the acquired computer security systems in order to constantly develop strategies that will allow them to avoid possible cybercrimes.

The Costa Rican Case

CONTI, Group Russian cybercriminals Approaching the political ideology of the current government of this country, they are responsible for attacking the governmental systems of Central America.

The US FBI even released a statement offering a reward for finding CONTI perpetrators involved in the cyberattack.

The main result for the citizens is that there was no system of payment and registration of taxes and their removal.

There is a theory that after the attack on the Costa Rican government this group disintegrated into small isolated parts that continue to operate around the world..

The unfortunate thing about the event is that there are no clear reasons why the Costa Rican government became a victim, suggesting that any other state in the region could have been the focus of cybercrime.

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