Data from the government organizations in Vietnam and Panama was stolen by hackers in multiple cyber incidents that came to light this week.
Vietnam’s state news outlet said the country’s Cyber Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) confirmed that it received a report of an incident impacting the National Credit Information Center (CIC), which is run by the State Bank of Vietnam and manages credit information for the country’s citizens and businesses.
VNCERT said initial reports show that personal data was leaked as a result of the attack. The organization is now coordinating with multiple agencies and state-owned telecom Viettel on the investigation.
“Initial verification results show signs of cybercrime attacks and intrusions with the aim of stealing personal data. The amount of illegally acquired data is still being counted and clarified,” VNCERT explained.
VNCERT urged residents not to download or share the stolen data and threatened legal charges against those who do.
The statement comes two days after hackers tied to the Scattered Spider cybercriminal organization and the affiliated Shiny Hunters group claimed to have hacked the CIC and stolen about 160 million records.
The hackers offered the stolen information for sale on a cybercriminal forum, providing a sample that included a person’s name, address, credit card history, government IDs, income statements and any debts.
In an interview with DataBreaches.net, the hackers said they exploited a vulnerability in end-of-life software — which they did not specify — and never offered a ransom for the stolen data.
Bloomberg News reported that the CIC told banks in the country that the group behind the attack was Shiny Hunters.
The attackers have drawn the scrutiny of law enforcement agencies around the world for dozens of high-profile incidents this year, including several campaigns targeting large organizations in the retail, airline and insurance sectors.
Government officials in Panama confirmed that the Ministry of Economy and Finance was hit with a cyberattack this week.
“The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) informs the public that today it detected an incident involving malicious software at one of the offices of the Ministry,” officials said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The established security protocols were activated immediately and reinforced the preventive measures throughout the computer system to contain the intrusion. It is important to note that none of the central MEF platforms have been compromised and continue to operate with total normality.”
The Ministry of Economy and Finance did not respond to requests for comment and has not provided an update.
The INC ransomware gang took credit, claiming to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of information from the ministry that included budgets, emails and more.
The group was previously implicated in an attack on Hungary’s defense procurement agency last November as well as several hospitals and grocery store giants in the U.S.
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Jonathan Greig
is a Breaking News Reporter at Recorded Future News. Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since 2014. Before moving back to New York City, he worked for news outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia. He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.
