The government sector in Costa Rica has suffered another ransomware attack, a separate campaign from the recent disruption caused by the Conti ransomware actors. Last week, the country’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) disclosed that 12 of its servers were encrypted by attackers.
Moreover, the government contacted Costa Rica’s National Security Directorate and the Ministry of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications to address the incident and all offline MOPT computer systems.
The Costa Rican government has yet to respond to any request for comment from numerous individuals but revealed that they would release a follow-up statement regarding the issue. Currently, the government has sought the help of international organisations to support them in their investigations.
Costa Rica will begin to resume their operations affected by the ransomware attack.
News reports from Costa Rica stated that the driving tests are still being completed manually. The license issuance services will resume immediately after the country’s security team addresses the attack.
A notice also explained that its personnel in person will now attend Public Works, traffic engineering, and maritime safety services until the investigation still needs to be completed.
The National Security Directorate and the Ministry of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications warned Costa Ricans to be wary of scammers since it could be the next step for the hackers to profit from the attack.
However, multiple agencies either postponed their connections to MOTP to contain the attack or said services were scarce due to the ransomware. Furthermore, Costa Rica’s judiciary department explained that they must cut its connection to MOPT since the attack could limit their country’s traffic court services.
A judiciary representative said they could not download fines, tickets, and other necessary files until the link to MOTP is established again. Still, it is safer since they could contain the ransomware attack in this method.
Fortunately, the Road Safety Council in Costa Rica revealed that their computer infrastructure is separate from MOTP and was not impacted by the ransomware campaign. Researchers have yet to record any ransomware group that claimed the attack against Costa Rica’s transportation department.
