Brazilian government discloses National Treasury ransomware attack

Image: Rafaela Biazi

The Brazilian Ministry of Economy has disclosed a ransomware attack that hit some of its computing systems on Friday night, right before the start of the weekend.

"On Friday night (13) a ransomware attack on the internal network of the National Treasury Secretariat was identified," the Brazilian government revealed on Saturday evening.

The threat was contained after the attack was detected, and the Federal Police was contacted immediately after the containment measures were applied.

Security specialists with the National Treasury Secretariat and the Digital Government Secretariat are still investigating the extent of the breach.

"In this first stage, it was assessed that the action did not damage the structuring systems of the National Treasury Secretariat, such as the Integrated Financial Administration System (SIAFI) and those related to Public Debt," the Brazilian Ministry of Economy added.

Government officials will disclose additional information on the ransomware attack when available, in "a timely manner and with due transparency."

The Brazilian government also issued a joint statement with the Brazilian Stock Exchange on Monday regarding the incident, as first reported by ZDNet.

"The National Treasury Department and B3, responsible for the Treasury Direct operation, communicate that the ransomware attack suffered last Friday against the National Treasury Department's internal network in no way affected the platform," the statement reads. "Purchases and sales can still be carried out normally."

In April, Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul court system was also hit by REvil ransomware after another attack from November when the RansomEXX ransomware gang attacked the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice.

While the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice was dealing with RansomEXX having encrypted their systems, the websites of multiple other Brazilian federal government agencies were also taken offline.