A group of hackers claims to have compromised various public interest institutions in Spain
The digitalization of administrative processes
progresses little by little, although specialists in network
security from the International Institute of Cyber Security consider
that most of these processes have fallen behind and this could be a security
risk. The group of ethical hackers self-titled Digital Research Team says they have managed to hack universities,
public offices and even some political parties in Spain.
Through their Twitter account the ethical
hacking group has published a list of all the allegedly hacked institutions,
claiming that they have huge databases in their possession. Hackers claim that
the compromised information will not be published, as their only intention is
to raise awareness among institutions about their security weaknesses.
According to specialists in network security,
among the political parties hacked are the Spanish Socialist Workers Party
(PSOE) and Ciudadanos political party; hackers say they even have information
from some relevant figures in these institutions.
On the other hand, the government agencies
involved are Ministry of Justice, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Health, among
others. Finally, different universities in cities such as Seville, Malaga,
Madrid and Zaragoza were also hacked.
Network security specialists consider that this
incident highlights the lack of importance for many public institutions for the
security of the information they protect, some institutions have even opted to
contact the hackers through the email address that the group enabled.
It is not yet known what method hackers used to
compromise the online platforms of these institutions, although additional
details are expected to be revealed shortly.
Finally, the group of hackers eliminated the
publications in which they made known the attack of their profile of Twitter.
Now, entering the profile of Digital Research Team the only thing we can find
is a statement from the group in which they say that “the only objective of
this campaign was for organizations to correct their security flaws. At no time
will we disclose or try to profit from the information involved. We thank the
institutions that have made contact with us”.
