Yes, there are in Mexico specialists in cyber security that they are capable of carrying out an attack like the one suffered by the Sedena and also to protect and defend the institution, agreed members of the cybersecurity industry consulted by The Economist.
After it became known that information stolen from the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) of Mexico by the self-styled group macaw was broadcast by the media Latinusthe Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorsaid that the authors of this attack are most likely foreigners and that he did not know if there were cybersecurity specialists in Mexico.
“They are very specialized people, not just anyone. I don’t know if there are specialists in this field of cybernetics in Mexico. I understand that this same group has already done the same in other countries. I think in Colombia, in Chile, that’s why I think it’s something that is handled from abroad that is not from Mexico, “said López Obrador in his morning conference.
“It must be an agency or group from abroad unless it is national, I doubt it,” he added.
In this regard, researchers and specialists from the cybersecurity industry said that there are indeed specialists in the field in Mexico, both to carry out an attack such as the one carried out by the group. macaw enough to protect institutions such as Sedena, especially if they protect critical infrastructure.
Andrés Velazquez, founder and director of the cybersecurity company MaTTica, said that beyond the statements of President López Obrador, there are indeed cybersecurity specialists in Mexico. The specialist recalled that there are postgraduate specialization courses in cybersecurity both in the private and public sectors. The Mexican Navy Secretariat offers a postgraduate course on the subject.
“In Mexico, for a long time, there have been specialties and diplomas in cybersecurity or even within the Mexican Navy there is a master’s degree system in cybersecurity and there are people within the armed forces and in the private sector who have doctorates in cybersecurity” Velazquez said in an interview.
For Cynthia Solís, director of LEXINF IT Legal Advisory and member of the IFT advisory advisory council, President López Obrador’s statement was risky because it has long been known that there are specialties in academic institutions that are dedicated to cybersecurity.
“There are internationally recognized master’s degrees such as the one taught by the ESIME Culhuacán Unit of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), where students from all over the world come to enroll in this program. We are talking about formations that have 10 years available,” he said.
Miguel Ángel Mendoza, a security researcher at the Slovak company ESET, agreed that Mexico has nationally and internationally recognized cybersecurity specialists. Although it is only a matter of time before a cyber attacker finds a window through which to infiltrate
“It is necessary to have more trained people, but there are great cybersecurity professionals in the country,” he said.
Hiram Camarillo, a researcher at Seekurity, is convinced that there are people specialized in cybersecurity in Mexico, although most do not have a public profile. According to the specialist, there are people in Mexico who use their talent to launch this type of attack and there are also those who use it to carry out security tests against different companies and institutions.
“They are not famous, but within the industry they are known,” he said.
Camarillo is skeptical of the capacity of an institution like Sedena, since most of the reports on security attacks suffered by the state are quite deficient, unlike other reports such as those made by US agencies.
“There are specialists who could have done something like that, yes. There are specialists who could help protect you from such an incident, too. The fact that it has been mentioned in this way speaks to us of a certain lack of knowledge of how Mexico is in the cybersecurity part, said Jorge Osorio, a consultant for Information Security Consultants (CSI).
