QCOSTARICA – The Tecnología de Información para el Control Aduanero (TICA) – Information Technology System for Customs Control – platform, to carry out customs procedures, has been out of service for two months after it was disabled on April 18 as a result of the cyberattack experienced by the Ministerio de Hacienda (Ministry of Finance or Treasury) by the Conti group.
Treasury still does not have a defined date to rehabilitate the digital service, while the Administración Tributaria Virtual (ATV) – Virtual Tax Administration – system, to declare and pay taxes, was reactivated weeks ago.
Adalid Medrano, a lawyer in computer law, commented that it was exposed that the Treasury systems were not prepared for this type of threat. The lawyer criticized the ministry for not having business continuity plans.
The Ministerio de Hacienda has also come under strong criticism by President Rodrigo Chaves, who was the Minister of Finance in the Carlos Alvarado administration from October 30, 2019, to May 28, 2020
The ‘Conti’ group attacked more than 30 public institutions, the most affected were the Treasury and servers of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) and requested more than US$10 million dollars in payments in exchange for stopping the cyberattacks.
