Alert in INTA: they hacked the systems and ask for a million dollar ransom

The employees of the

(INTA) started Labor Day with an unpleasant surprise: a letter in their mailbox warned them: "Since 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 29, we have detected an attack on our institutional computer services" .

This is the

, the previous one had occurred in March 2022, but it had been of a lesser magnitude.

Now, to release the systems, the hackers would be demanding no more and no less than a sum of

.

"It is a

directed at large-scale organizations, which is spread by propagation, infecting more and more computers on the network and encrypting its contents," the agency explained in the letter addressed to its workers.

From the moment the violation of the systems was detected, INTA activated the security protocols and formed a contingency management team headed by the National Directorate of Information Systems, Technology and Processes (DNA SITyP) together with specialists who work in close communication with the National Cybersecurity Directorate of the National Cabinet Office.

For the moment, INTA decided to suspend all its services until the situation is fully controlled and it is safe to move forward with its restoration.

"From the moment the attack began, work is being done on the analysis of the infrastructure and communication links with the aim of isolating the threat and weighing the depth and characteristics of the blockade suffered," the entity indicated.

INTA's technological infrastructure is complex and provides services to a network of more than 400 points nationwide and close to 7,000 people.

For this reason, advancing in the safe, gradual and progressive recovery of the different services will surely require several days.

"These tasks require validation time for each decision that is being made, so we appeal to everyone's understanding in order to remain calm and patient in the face of this situation," the agency's leadership requested.

"Due to its institutional size, INTA has been and is constantly in focus of groups such as those that carry out these computer attacks. Some of them are minor attacks that can be easily contained, but others, like the one we are suffering at the moment, are much more difficult to control and contain," said the letter to account for the seriousness of the matter.

"We are focused on continuing to advance in the recovery tasks and we will keep you informed about the progress as we are able to re-establish services in a controlled manner," the letter concluded.

Until noon this Tuesday, it had not yet been possible to regain control of the agency's computer systems.