MEXICO CITY.- The personal data of 263 Mexican and foreign journalists accredited to attend the president’s daily press conferences Andrés Manuel López Obrador They were stolen using the access code of a former federal official, according to the Mexican government.
Previously, the president had said that the Presidency’s computer systems had been hacked and he hinted that opponents of his government could be responsible.
However, in a press conference held late in the day and headed by the Secretary of the Interior, Luisa María Alcalde, and the president’s spokesperson, Jesús Ramírez, the officials explained that the data theft was done using the password of a former government employee who had not been removed from one of the databases containing reporters’ information. Such file was in the process of being migrated to another computer site, they indicated.
Likewise, they explained that the illegal access took place from Spain on January 22, but acknowledged that they did not find out about the theft until last Friday, when different media outlets began reporting on the subject.
Last week, the local cybersecurity company Silikn and press defense organizations reported that personal data, photographs and records from the Presidency’s accreditation system of more than 300 journalists were appearing in clandestine forums and social networks.
Ramírez clarified that only detailed information on 263 communicators was disclosed. Among the documents displayed on the Internet were a license of a US citizen, ten documents of foreign journalists and 63 passports.
Investigation announced in Mexico
He added that, as soon as it became aware of the situation, the National Guard closed the site from which such data was presumably being marketed or shared.
The Mayor said that on Tuesday a criminal complaint will be filed with the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic, and that the Ministry of the Interior, through the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, would support those affected who request some type of security. . He also suggested they channel any complaints through his agency.
But many of the reporters who saw their data displayed – in a country where attacks on the press do not stop and which is considered one of the most dangerous to practice journalism – showed their indignation during the press conference at the lack of data for to be able to file their complaints themselves, instead of having to do so through a government that many distrust.
Mexico’s National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI) announced last week that it began an investigation into the case.
The international organization Article 19, which defends the rights of journalists, expressed concern about the information released, as some of those covering the presidential morning conferences have reported persecution and threats.
Although in this case it seems to be out of the question to talk about hacking, two years ago the files of the Ministry of National Defense were subject to a cyber attack and hundreds of documents were extracted, some of which were disseminated on social networks and in local media. The Mexican government confirmed that the theft of military files was carried out by a group of hackers called Guacamaya, made up of anonymous elements.
The group was accused of being responsible for the theft of 10 terabytes of information, including emails from the armed forces of Mexico, El Salvador, Peru, Colombia and Chile and the Salvadoran National Police.
Source: AP
