The Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalveconfirmed that the cyber attack on the Joint Chiefs of Staff (EMCO) -which caused a massive email leak on the internet- occurred in May of this year.
“The information available allows us to conclude that the hacking, the theft of information, occurred in the month of May 2022,” said Monsalve from the province of Arauco, Biobío region.
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He also indicated that the Minister of Defense, maya fernandez“was informed at the end of May, when the hack had already occurred, and was informed that there were vulnerabilities in the system.”
“Resources were requested and were available, and therefore, that vulnerability was closed in May based on the information that was delivered to the minister and the decision that the minister made,” added the Interior authority.
He reiterated that “the minister was not informed that there had been a hack and that therefore information that could be sensitive to national security had been stolen.”
The undersecretary recalled that “an administrative summary has been instructed that has to clarify administrative responsibilities, and there is a complaint to the Military Justice that has to investigate responsibilities already from the criminal point of view in matters of military justice.”
The Guacamaya hacktivist group hacked EMCO. The group released more than 300 thousand archives of the organ. Among the documents, there are appraisals on the social outbreak, expenses of the Armed Forces during the State of Exception in the regions of Biobío and La Araucanía, under the Government of Sebastian Pineraamong others.
Following the spread of the emails, the head of EMCO, General William PaivaHe submitted his resignation from the post. According to Radio Bio Bio, Paiva would have known that the EMCO was the victim of a cyberattack. Still, he did not report or there was no record that the incident was reported to the Ministry of Defense.
In replacement of Paiva, the Government appointed Vice Admiral of the Army Jose Luis Fernandez as the new head of EMCO.
