MONTEVIDEO, Jan 29 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Uruguay’s National Computer Security Incident Response Center (CERTUY) issued a report stating that 14,264 attacks were reported last year, a significant increase from the 4,968 incidents in 2023.
Most cases consisted of phishing, followed by unauthorized access to systems, malware installation, intrusion attempts, and proactive breaches of state systems.
The number of incidents has been growing as per the following chart: 2024: 14.264 – 2023: 4.968 – 2022: 4.169 – 2021: 3.948 – 2020: 2.798; and 2019: 2.217.
According to the website www.phishing.com, “Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking, and credit card details, and passwords.
Phishing is typically carried out by email spoofing, instant messaging, and text messaging, and often directs users to enter personal information at a fake website which matches the look and feel of the legitimate site. Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to deceive users.”
In this scenario, “Uruguay has accompanied the growth of attacks in our country compared with what is happening in the rest of the world. There is something positive in the fact that more attacks have been detected, and this is because we have better tools to identify what is happening,” said Agency for Electronic Government and Information and Knowledge Society (Agesic) Director Hebert Paguas.
One of 2024’s most notorious incidents took place at the Paysandú City Hall, where cybercriminals blocked access to a large part of the institutional information. As a result, the payroll, the website, and the connection to the Single Vehicle Revenue Collection System (Sucive) were left inactive.
The hackers demanded US$ 650,000 in ransom, but city authorities refused to pay and are still scrabbling to restore the information even with Agesic’s cooperation, which is nevertheless limited, Paguas explained. “We proactively collaborated with the Paysandú City Hall to seek solutions, and in fact we continue to work together on this issue,” he said.
But at the present rate, threats outpace the Uruguayan government’s defense capabilities despite increasing efforts in this regard. — NNN-MERCOPRESS
