August 17, 2024, 2:28 PM
August 17, 2024, 2:28 PM
The Bolivian State’s digital information security levels are minimal and worrying, according to the assessment of a computer expert. In recent months, the hacks into government websites have increased significantly and a record of the Agency of Electronic Government and Information and Communication Technologies (Agetic) confirms it.
The last case occurred last Wednesday, when The Senate’s website appeared with a Nazi flag and a message against the president and the government. This case is possibly linked to a recent leak of passwords and accesses that revealed very basic security levels.
The Senate issued a statement admitting the cyber attack and announcing a new website designed “to offer an improved user experience” and that has “a greater cybersecurity.
But the Senate case is not isolated. The official record of this type of incident is kept by the Agetic Computer Incident Center. Its reports show that in the first half of the year there were 454 Computer incidents and vulnerabilities58 more cases than those that occurred in 2023 during the same period. Additionally, in a July publication they admit that the dissemination of access to government computer systems “represents a serious threat to the security of government information.”
While keeping track of these events is crucial, State actions are not sufficient in terms of digital security due to the absence of legislation in this regard, to define, among other things, the standards for minimum security levels.
The director of the Internet Bolivia Foundation, Cristian León, explained that they had previously identified cybersecurity breaches, but that “it Worrying is that these violations appear to be increasing and are increasingly noticeable” and that there are signs that “we are facing a critical situation in terms of cybersecurity levels.”
To date, no organisation has claimed responsibility for the cyberattacks and a forensic investigation would be required to investigate a crime that leaves very few traces.
The risk beyond the anecdote
According to Leon, the risk is high for both the population and the State. Not only is the main page of the institutions modified, which would be simply anecdotal, but these sites are interconnected to mail servicescloud and storage, among others. “It’s like entering the lobby of a house and from there starting to try door to door. to test which rooms we can enter,” explains the expert.
With the information that hackers can access, they can change, for example, taxpayer information, create debts or manipulate personal data that can later lead to crimes of identity theft, extortion, harassment, among others. “The risk level is high and we, both the state and citizens, have to accept this; it is detrimental to all of us,” he says.
For now, the measures taken by the State have been aimed at resolving cyberattacks on a one-off basis, but not at providing long-term solutions. While there is interest in digitizing some processes, there is no State policy for protecting information, something that almost all countries have, which makes digitization initiatives even more risky.
