Brazil’s health ministry said its website was attacked on Friday by hijackers that cracked down on a number of systems, including one with information on a national immunization program and one used to issue digital vaccination certificates.
The government has set aside a week to implement new health requirements for travelers arriving in Brazil as a result of the attacks.
“The health department reports that on Friday morning it experienced an incident that temporarily disrupted some of its programs … which are not yet available,” the statement said.
Police said they were investigating the incident.
The alleged robbers, who call themselves Lapsus $ Group, “sent a message to the website claiming that the internal data had been copied and deleted.” Contact us if you want this data back, “he said, in a clear ransomware attack.
The message, which included email and Telegram contact information, had been deleted Friday afternoon, but the webpage was still down, while user data in the ConectSUS app that gives Brazilians vaccination certificates had disappeared.
The department said it was working to restore its plans. At a press conference, Deputy Minister of Health Rodrigo Cruz said access to vaccination information was not yet available on Friday evening. Cruz said it was too early to say whether the data was lost.
Under measures taken Tuesday after President Jair Bolsonaro opposed the use of the vaccine passport, unarmed travelers arriving in Brazil will have to be isolated for five days and tested for COVID-19.
Demand was set to begin on Saturday, but the government said it would be postponed for a week as vaccination information was not available online following the attack.
COVID-19 tracking forms for incoming passengers are still available on the health director’s website Anvisa, which has not been disclosed.
