Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Technology
Adriana Barrera

Mexico's economy ministry hit by cyber attack

FILE PHOTO: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration

Mexico's economy ministry detected a cyber attack on some of its servers on Sunday but did not consider sensitive information to have been compromised, and beefed up safety measures, it said in a statement.

It was the second high-profile cyber attack on the Mexican government after hackers demanded $5 million in bitcoin from national oil company Pemex last November, forcing it to shut down computers nationwide.

Providers have been asked to temporarily isolate networks and servers, the ministry said on Monday, adding that the processing of some forms would be temporarily suspended to protect their legal status.

"Following an extensive revision, some of the ministry's servers have been identified as affected, mostly email and archive servers," it added.

"The ministry's sensitive information as well as that of its users is not considered compromised."

It was not immediately clear if the cyber attack was accompanied by a ransom demand as was the case for Pemex. Companies taken hostage digitally can suffer catastrophic damage, regardless of whether they pay ransom.

(Reporting by Adriana Barrera; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.