BEUNOS AIRES – The Argentine Army is taking a recent cyber attack on its website very seriously, as it apparently came from a terrorist organization.
The Argentine Army issued a press release Tuesday through its Department of Institutional Communication to address the computer attack suffered in the previous hours and inform that the case had been reported to the judiciary’s Specialized Cybercrime Unit (UFECI) and that “none of the critical computer systems had been affected.”
Signs like “We are the Islamic State. This is a threat. ISIS is in Argentina and soon you will hear from us. Allahu Akbar (sic, Allah is great)” could be read in Spanish on the website for about 20 minutes, with a photo of an alleged members of the terrorist group.
The cyber attack from a yet undetermined source took place around Monday noon, according to the Army’s statement. As soon as the problem was detected, “security protocols” were launched and normalcy restored as soon as possible, the statement added.
Media analysts said the attack bore no similarity to ISIS’ modus operandi known to this date.
The Army also made it clear that only its website with public news had been affected and that the perpetrator or perpetrators were almost about to be identified by Tuesday afternoon, despite the national Flag Day holiday in commemoration of the passing away on June 20, 1820 of Manuel Belgrano, one of the country’s founding fathers, who designed the flag which was first hoisted in Rosario in 1812.
Last January, email accounts of Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and more than 30 other high ranking officials were targeted by hackers and jokes against President Mauricio Macri were published though Bullrich’s own Twitter account.
