authorities silence on cyber attack

The security authorities of El Salvador have so far not issued any statement on a cyberattack to extract military and police information that was claimed by the “Guacamaya” hacking group.

Local publications such as the digital portal “El Faro” and the newspaper “La Prensa Gráfica” revealed data on the movements of gang leaders in March, precisely the month in which the government took a turn to declare war against the gangs in imposing a state of exception.

The group has launched attacks against targets in Central America, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and released a large number of emails and other materials from police and military agencies in September. It has also infiltrated mining and oil companies in the region.

The undersecretary of the Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States Department of State, Ricardo Zúñiga, did not rule out making changes if the information that was stolen endangers United States military personnel in El Salvador.

Jorge Villacorta, an analyst on security issues, affirms that the Salvadoran authorities have a different position and do not talk about the issue to avoid damaging their image.

“It is a communication strategy of the current government, not only on this issue, (but) on any issue that causes some kind of problem that contradicts the image they are developing, simply the known tactic is not to give an opinion,” said Villacorta.

Security expert Misael Rivas pointed out that the vulnerability evidenced by cyber attacks has triggered technological protection tests in the countries of the region, which must strengthen programs to mitigate risk.

“The system of each one of the nations is going to require reinforcement according to what can be done and that the nationals can grant to the governments. I have no doubt that there are experts in every country”, he explained.

The hackers said they stole some 250,000 emails from the Salvadoran military and 10 million emails from the Salvadoran police, but neither institution has mentioned those claims.

In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador revealed at the end of September that the files of the Ministry of National Defense had been hacked, but ruled out damage to the country’s security.

López Obrador played down the importance of the event and explained that the hacking occurred during a change in the communication system of the Secretariat of National Defense of Mexico (Sedena), but did not specify dates.

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