The president of Mexico reveals how Apple told her about the attack

The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, confirmed Monday that her mobile phone and email, both for personal use, were hacked by unknown attackers. As explained at his morning conferencethe alert came from Apple, which notified the Government about the violation of its safety. The attack occurs just when its administration has intensified its offensive against drug cartels in a context of growing international pressure, including that of the United States.

The notice that uncovered the hacking. “They hacked my phone and my email account. Apple immediately called the Digital Transformation Agency”Sheinbaum said this morning before journalists. The aforementioned agency, created this year to unify the technological capabilities of the government and under whose orbit is the General Directorate of Cybersecurity, was responsible for managing the situation from the first moment. According to the president, “he took letters in the matter very fast.”

An attack with Pegasus? When the attackers point to high profile objectives, it is easy to think about Pegasus. However, it has not been revealed what tools were used to compromise the security of the telephone and mail of the president of Mexico. Apple has been fighting this type of spy software for some time, with Pegasus of NSO Group at the point of view, and has developed an alert system which notifies the possible affected through their Apple account, email and imissage.

The head of state, however, has pointed out that it was Apple who contacted the digital transformation agency, which suggests a different communication than usual. To clarify it, we have consulted Apple about the existence of specific protocols when attacks aimed at high profile figures, such as heads of state. Nor is it clear if the cyber attack committed at the same time the mobile and email of Sheinbaum or if they were separate incidents. For now, the government continues to investigate.

Personal use media. Both the telephone and the email affected by cyber attack were for personal use of the president of Mexico. As he explained, his mobile number dates from 2008, when he worked at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and decided to keep it for attachment, although he almost did not use it. As collects group formulathis number had already leaked during the electoral campaign. “It was a (number of) phone that knew everyone” and that was published in a newspaper, said Sheinbaum on Monday.

On her email account, the president explained: “I think it was the first account that I opened in Yahoo, so it is a very, very old address that a lot of people have. In addition, I have the government’s account, which does have all cybersecurity conditions and others. ” When consulted on possible measures, he affirmed that the government has security protocols in its official accounts and that, after the incident, now uses another personal phone number.

A hacking after the delivery of drug traffickers. The hacking was known for the first time through Un article published by The New York Times last Friday. According to the medium, the attack occurred shortly after the Sheinbaum government completed the transfer of 29 drug traffickers to the United States and in a context of more aggressive measures against cartels, driven in the midst of the growing pressure of the Donald Trump administration.

Images | Government of Mexico | Apple | Altumcode

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