Computers at Calvia town hall, Mallorca

Some 150 new items of equipment are being introduced. | MDB

Andrew EdeCalvia19/01/2024 08:13
TW
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Calvia town hall, which suffered a cyberattack on January 13, is being assisted in recovering its systems by the National Cryptological Center Computer Emergency Response Team. This team was set up in 2006 for dealing with incidents of this sort that affect public administrations like Calvia as well as businesses of strategic importance.

After the attack by the LockBit group of hackers, IT specialists warned that it would take time to fully recover the services that were affected. Not all were, but since last Saturday services of key importance, such as tax management and the police department, have been down.

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Having installed ransomware, the hackers apparently demanded ten million euros. Calvia's mayor, Juan Antonio Amengual, insisted that the town hall would not pay a cent. Nevertheless, operations have been severely affected. The current estimate for tax management and collection is that 90% of the service will be restored by January 29 and that it will then again be functioning.

As well as recovery, the town hall will be reinforcing security. As part of this, some 150 new items of equipment will be made operational over the coming weeks. "These will contribute decisively to an improvement process in the town hall's cybersecurity," a source said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, forensic teams are analysing examples of malware and the extent of possible exfiltration of information. Reports will then be sent to the state security forces.