Colombia. The Colombian channel Caracol Televisión suffered a ransomware-type cyber attack on May 22. As a result, design programs and operational applications were affected, but criminals were unable to access the informational content of their network.
The media said, in an official statement, that the attacks only affected design and graphics programs, usually used for the diagramming of credits in broadcasts. In addition, this event was made available for investigation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and INTERPOL of the National Police (Dijín) and by the Attorney General's Office.
On the other hand, the BluRadio station, a radio station owned by Caracol, was also affected. According to the station "the alerts and the security system prevented the attack from being superior and, despite the seriousness of the fact, the architects of the attack never managed to access the informative content of Caracol Television." which was intended to affect the Caracol News system, BLU Radio and other brands belonging to the channel.
Finally, on the date of the incident, Caracol journalists detailed what happened in the noon broadcast, a space where they commented that the newscast had been the victim of a cyber attack and for that reason the credits of the interviewees and journalists were not visible in the notes of that day.
In conclusion, this attack on one of the most important media in Colombia adds to the increase in targeted ransomware-type attacks. Incidents that according to Kaspersky, a company of international scope dedicated to computer security, had an increase of 200% in 2021.
