MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine Health Ministry's computers hacked

Minister Taiana was pleased with the way cyber defense experts handled the intrusion at the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Argentina's Health Ministry had its computer system hacked. Sensitive data such as names of people infected with the HIV virus were reportedly leaked while false information was added to the databases, it was reported.

According to ministry sources, the trespassers broke in through the personal account of a civil servant from that government office, and from there false information and chain emails were sent during the weekend.

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“What we know so far is that the account of a Ministry worker was hacked,” official sources told Infobae. The Buenos Aires outlet also reported that the Health Ministry was working together with the Interior Ministry on the sabotage case. The Health Ministry also issued a statement calling recipients to disregard the contents of the emails.

The authorities also said they would take action to find those responsible and apply “corrective measures.”

“In the meantime, it is requested to disregard all communications from emails @msal.gov.ar and, in particular, not to open any links or attachments or provide any personal data. The information will be permanently updated,” the Ministry added, according to Infobae, while denying allegations that an official named Juan Manuel Castelli had been interviewed by two leading TV hosts in a move to boost the ministry's image among the population.

Last week, hackers broke into the database of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the three Armed Forces, it was also reported, although the intrusion was averted by specialists from the Cyber Defense Command.

According to El Cronista, Defense Minister Jorge Taiana was “satisfied” with the way the crisis was handled. Taiana was overseeing military drills in Entre Ríos when he learned about the cyber attacks which consisted basically of the presence of “malware” in some computers. No data was stolen, it was also reported.