Colombian National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (INVIMA)

History

2022: Server shutdown due to ransomware virus attack

On October 3, 2022, the Columbia National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (INVIMA) reported a massive cyber attack that disrupted the agency's information infrastructure.

Due to an attack by network attackers, the organization was forced to disconnect connections to its servers, as well as disable access to the website. Moreover, systems related to the control of imports of vital drugs were deactivated. Apparently, INVIMA systems were attacked by a ransomware program. It is not yet clear what damage the organization could have suffered, but, apparently, information security specialists managed to repel the attack.

Colombia's pharmaceutical regulator shut down servers due to ransomware virus attack

{{quote 'Thanks to the timely response of our technical team, it became possible to ensure the security and confidentiality of information managed by the organization, the report said. }} Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, the hacker attack was reported by the American non-profit network CommonSpirit Health, which operates more than 140 hospitals in 21 states. As a result of the incident, a number of IT systems had to be deactivated, which include electronic medical records, etc. In addition, the schedule of patient admission had to be revised. The measures taken made it possible to minimize the risks of leakage of confidential information and damage to the IT infrastructure.

It is not yet clear whether the two cyberattacks are linked to each other. But it should be noted that in recent years, a number of ransomware groups and cybercriminal syndicates have attacked organizations in Central and South America. In particular, structures in Argentina, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Rio de Janeiro, etc. collided with ransomware.^[1][2]

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