National Lottery Hit by a Cyberattack

Mexico’s National Lottery (LOTENAL) notified on Tuesday it detected a theft of information in its administrative area two weeks ago. The theft was allegedly carried out by international cybercriminals. LOTENAL claims to have immediately notified the Cybernetic Police of the Ministry of Citizen Security (SSC) and is being supported by the National Digital Strategy Coordination (CEDN). “A program to modernize the IT systems has been initiated and information is backed up in all areas," the institution said. LOTENAL’s competitions and raffles were not affected and are operating normally, added the institution. It also said that the payment of prizes is guaranteed. 

Although LOTENAL has not informed whether the attack was ransomware, on May 27 the Director and Founder of the cybersecurity firm Seekurity, Hiram Camarillo, shared on Twitter that the cybercriminal group Avaddon claimed that the Mexican institution was one of its new victims. The cybercriminal group allegedly gave a 10-day deadline to “cooperate with them” to recover the stolen information. “We have data such as contracts and agreements from 2009 to 2021, legal documents, mailings, finances, tax data, outsourcing and much more,” said Avaddon.

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