TN studies. photo Clarino
A group of cybercriminals managed to hack Artear, the company that owns Canal 13, TN and other Grupo Clarín TV channels. They reportedly managed to install ransomware, which is a program that hijacks information and demands a ransom in exchange for its return.
“There has been a cyber attack interested in the data network and systems of all Artear, but it did not affect the airing of television channels or digital platforms, ”they explained to Clarín of Artear.
“They entered the servers, encrypted, and no ransom note has yet arrived,” they added.
Later, in a statement, Artear explained: “A team of cybersecurity specialists are working on the recovery and standardization of services while investigating the origin of the sabotage “.
Despite this problem, the channels were able to maintain their programming. However, the way the online sites worked for technicians and workers had changed since then some tools used have found anomalies, product of the attack.
According to Clarín of Artear, at the moment the cyberattackers have not asked for a ransom, but it is not excluded that this will happen in the next few hoursdue to the mechanics of this type of hack.
What is ransomware
Ransomware has claimed more lives in recent years. His name is an acronym for “Data backup program”: ransom in English means ransom and ware is an abbreviation of the well-known word software: a data hijacking program. Ransomware is a sub-type of malware, which stands for “malicious software”.
This type of program works by restricting access to some or all of our personal information. And in general, attackers use it to ask for something in return: money.
While some simple ransomware can block your system in an easy way, more advanced ones use a technique the so-called “cryptoviral” extortion, where the victim’s files are encrypted, making them completely inaccessible.
Ransomware attacks are generally more targeted than malware: cybercriminals target specific computer systems that belong to companies and this has to do with the fact that they are more “juicy” victims to extort money from them.
Today’s largest cybercriminal groups such as Lockbit, Conti, Egregor and others often send extortion notes asking for a ransom in cryptocurrencies in exchange.
Systems are affected by the ransomware. AFP photo
Over the past two and a half years, these types of attacks have become popular around the world – from Samsung to Microsoft, to Nvidia and other industry giants, all of them have suffered cyber attacks.
In Argentina, several companies were attacked. Several major Argentine companies have been victims of ransomware so far in 2022: Mercado Libre and Globant have fallen to period, one of the most renowned groups of this year. Ingenio Ledesma, the Latin American sugar emporium, has also seen its operations affected (Lockbit).
As for state agencies, it is not the first time that this has happened in our country. Last year, unauthorized access managed to extract data from the Renaper and sold it to a forum for buying and selling personal data. In 2020, the National Directorate of Migration suffered a cyber attack that published thousands of personal data of Argentine citizens.
Source: Clarin
