Brazilian government confirms ransomware attack on

National Treasury

The Ministry of Economy of the Government of Brazil announced that the internal network of the National Treasury was impacted by a ransomware attack. According to the Ministry, the ransomware attack was discovered on Friday night, but it is not known when the intrusion first took place. At present, the ransomware attack is being investigated by cyber security specialists from the National Treasury Secretariat and the Digital Government Secretariat.

On Friday night (13) a ransomware attack on the internal network of the National Treasury Secretariat was identified. Containment measures were immediately applied and the Federal Police called.

“In this first stage, it was evaluated that the action did not damage the structuring systems of the National Treasury Secretariat, such as the Integrated Financial Administration System (SIAFI) and those related to Public Debt. Sanitary measures are being taken. New information on the subject will be disclosed in a timely manner and with due transparency”, the Ministry said.

In recent times, a number of federal institutions in Brazil have been targeted by ransomware actors. For instance, in November last year, a ransomware attack struck Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice, enabling hackers to infiltrate the network and forcing authorities to shut down the network.

In June, Brazil’s largest medical diagnostics company Grupo Fleury also suffered a debilitating ransomware that forced it to take systems offline and initiate restoration operations. Bleeping Computer reported that the firm suffered a REvil ransomware attack, with the REvil gang demanding as much as $5 million in cryptocurrency. It is not known if a ransom was ultimately paid.

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