San Jose, Costa Rica: A ransomware gang that recently has infiltrated the Costa Rican government's computer systems has threatened to overthrow the government. The Russian-speaking Conti gang tried to pressurize President Rodrigo Chaves, who assumed office for the first time on 8th May 2022, to pay a $20 million ransom.
During a news conference on Monday, Chaves suggested that the attack was coming from inside as well as outside Costa Rica. He stressed, “We are at war and that’s not an exaggeration,” further adding that the officials were battling a national terrorist group that has collaborators within Costa Rica.
Chaves also mentioned that 27 government institutions, including municipalities and state-run utilities, were affected due to the cyber attack. He also blamed his predecessor, Carlos Alvarado lack of investment in cyber security and for failing to deal with past attacks.
Conti made their own announcement. The gang said, “We have our insiders in your government. We are also working on gaining access to your other systems, you have no other options but to pay us. We know that you have hired a data recovery specialist, don’t try to find workarounds.”
Conti attacked in April and accessed critical data, including customs and tax collection. The attack has also affected the functioning of other systems.
While Chaves declared a state of emergency as soon as he took charge, the U.S. State Department offered a $10 million reward for intel leading to the identification or location of Conti masterminds.
Conti response was immediate and intense, “We are determined to overthrow the government by means of a cyber attack, we have already shown you all the strength and power, you have introduced an emergency.”, and called on Costa Ricans to pressure their government to pay $20 million.
The attack has encrypted government data and the gang warned on Saturday that if there demands aren't met in a week, it would delete the decryption keys.
FBI stated, “The FBI estimates that as of January 2022, there had been over 1,000 victims of attacks associated with Conti ransomware with victim payouts exceeding $150,000,000, making the Conti Ransomware variant the costliest strain of ransomware ever documented.”
The cyber attack is adding unwanted stress to Chaves’ maiden term as a president, but it's believed that the gang has monetary motivation and nothing else.
Source: The Associated Press
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