Cybersecurity

Mexico’s cybersecurity is going through one of its worst moments

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Mexico has had some pretty tough months in terms of cybersecurity. Many of its institutions and organizations have been victims of a cascade of security breaches that have exposed sensitive information of their users. Since the data leak of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) to the security breach from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), passing through vulnerability in Telcel systemseither signs of leak In the Tax Administration Service (SAT), the list is extensive and worrying. The context. Between September 2025 and January 2026, Mexico has recorded at least a dozen serious cybersecurity incidents that have affected public organizations and private companies. The IMSS, the National Employment Service, the Ministry of Education of Chiapasthe Federal Electricity Commission and various state agencies have seen their systems compromised. The result has been the violation of sensitive data of millions of Mexicans. The UNAM case. The National Autonomous University of Mexico, confirmed A few weeks ago it suffered an unauthorized intrusion into five of its more than 100,000 computer systems during the holiday period. Although the university assured that no personal information was extracted, the investigation by journalist Ignacio Gómez Villaseñor revealed that the hacker identified as ByteToBreach would have accessed data of more than 380,000 students and academics, including registrations, institutional emails and encrypted passwords. According to the journalist, the attacker also had access to sensitive documents that include complaints of workplace harassment, alleged academic plagiarism, and confidential communications from the rector’s office. The background. According to account Villaseñor, the UNAM security breach was not a sudden event. The journalist shows internal documents revealing that the university detected a first illicit access on March 13, 2025 and filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office, although the case did not progress. The final attack, which occurred between December 31 and January 1, coincided with the fact that engineers and developers from the Technology Projects Coordination had not been collecting fees for months due to “audit processes”, according to an internal letter from September 2025. The situation coincided with the exploitation of a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-66478) in Next.js servers that allowed the massive hack. The protagonist. ByteToBreach is not unknown in the world of cybercrime. According to SOCRadarhas been operating as a merchant of stolen databases since at least June 2025. It has been linked to breaches affecting airlines, banks, government institutions and health systems in several countries. In Mexico, in addition to the UNAM, is attributed the attack on the Invoice SAT Móvil application in December 2025, although the organization denied that its systems were compromised despite the technical evidence presented by the attacker. The Telcel scandal. Less than 24 hours after the entry into force of the mandatory registration of mobile lines in MexicoTelcel, one of the largest operators in the country, also faced a serious security vulnerability. On January 9, 2026, Gómez Villaseñor denounced that the company’s official portal allowed the personal information of millions of clients to be consulted without the need for passwords or verification codes: identity, CURP (Unique Population Registry Code), RFC (Federal Taxpayer Registry) and email were exposed simply by entering a telephone number. Although Telcel initially issued a statement ambiguous stating that the data was secure, Renato Flores, deputy director of communications for the company, recognized hours later on national radio that “there was a technical vulnerability” that was immediately corrected. The company insisted that users could only access their own information, although the journalist published a video proving the opposite. Answer. After the events, the UNAM assured that will not spare resources in cybersecurity during 2026. Rector Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas indicated that a network of internal experts and training programs would be created, while ensuring that the security of its systems would be fortified. To this end, an Internal Regulation of the Technical Committee for Computing Governance has been approved and seven specialized subcommittees have been established, including one specifically dedicated to computer security. Real risks. These security breaches pose a real risk to citizens. With data such as CURP, RFC, university registrations and emails circulating on the black market, the risks include identity theft, impersonation to carry out fraudulent procedures, phishing campaigns targeted targeting and access to accounts on other platforms if passwords are reused. And the leak of medical information from the IMSS, fiscal data from the SAT and educational records creates a complete profile of citizens that can be exploited in multiple ways. In this sense, users have no choice but to remain alert: not providing sensitive data by SMS, calls or emails without verifying the identity of the requester, changing compromised passwords and monitoring possible fraudulent use. On the other hand, it never hurts to activate mechanisms of two factor authentication whenever possible. As much as we repeat these instructions when security breaches of this magnitude arise, they are really basic steps that are in our power and that can greatly minimize the risks. Cover image | Chantel and FlyD In Xataka | Endesa hacking: what you have to do to protect yourself if you have received an email saying that you have been affected

Telework promised freedom to work from anywhere. Finance and cybersecurity have cut off his wings

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Although teleworking has lost some bellows In recent months, It has consolidated as a common option for many companies that offer flexibility and balance Between personal and professional life. However, as pointed out in A publication From LinkedIn Sandra Díaz González, Cazatalantos and Human Resources consultant, it is common for companies to condition that flexibility demanding that remote work is always done from the same place. It is not a whimthese limitations respond to various legal, organizational and security reasons that companies are obliged to comply with. Continuous or sporadic remote work. First of all, it is possible to make a distinction between the teleworking that is carried out constantly and full -time, of the one that takes place sporadicallyhow can it be During the summer or at specific times. Both require a previous agreement Between the company and the worker, but these conditions can become more restrictive as the case may be. In the first case, when the teleworking develops full -time, companies are much more restrictive in terms of the place from which it works since, as we will designate later, security factors, taxation or availability must be taken into account. OK To what is published by Self -employed and entrepreneursNot communicating the change of address from which teleworking can lead to a dismissal appointed by the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid. In the second case, in which teleworking is done occasionally, it will be enough for which company and employee establish a series of basic communications security measures given the sporadic character of remote work. Telework without risks. Law 10/2021, also known as Teleworking Lawit establishes that companies must take responsibility for the Occupational Risk Prevention even when that work is done at a distance. This implies evaluating and guaranteeing that the space from which telework meets the necessary conditions for Protect health and safetyof the employee in the same way that is done in the office. The company is obliged to verify that the job at home or in another fixed place is properly equipped and that the environment does not generate health risks No work accidents. These demands explain the need for the teleworking place to always be predictable and known by the company, avoiding changing spaces that hinder these measures. Communications and data security. Another fundamental reason why some companies condition the teleworking to be made from a fixed place is the Sensitive information protection and security in digital communications. Connect from the wifi network of a cafeteria, a hotel or a library does not always guarantee Data safety that are transmitted or of the servers to which it is connected, as the Cybersecurity Guide on Teleworking Published by INCIBE. Data protection regulations require that companies can implement controls that guarantee the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data that are handled, more when working outside the central offices. To mitigate that risk, companies must facilitate Security software and establish limits for those incoming connections that are made from unregistered locations. Taxation for digital nomads. Teleworking allows employee to live anywhere in the world. However, the company must submit certain tax criteria when that employee has its Residence in another countrygenerating Additional tax obligations and possible legal conflicts. This consideration does not apply when an employee works remotely during a punctual trip, but when it takes place for a good part of the year. In that scenario, the Treasury could consider that the employee does not reside in the country and apply a different fiscal policy. Such and as they explain From the union to use, this situation would also lead to the company incurring a breach of the cross -border teleworking laws for social security contribution. For these reasons, many companies limit the possibility of teleworking under the condition of doing so within the national territory, thus avoiding economic sanctions and administrative problems. Teleworking near the office. The model of hybrid work It is the most used by companies that offer job flexibility to their employees, allowing them to work between one and four days remote, but maintaining a certain level of face -to -face in the office. By establishing that teleworking is always from a place near the office (the same city or community), the company ensures the Logistics and Organizational Management of its template at the time of Schedule meetings or corporate events. In Xataka | Digital nomadic visas: the countries hook to attract the best digital talent without paying the cost to keep them Image | Unspash (Johnny Africa)

The greatest acquisition of the company’s history revolves around cybersecurity

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23,000 million dollars were not enough to close the initial treatment per Wiz. In July last year, Google presented its purchase proposal For the cybersecurity company in the cloud, But the offer was rejected. If he had completed, he would have marked the most ambitious acquisition in the history of the search engine. The conversations did not stop and, after months of negotiations, Google He has managed to close The agreement for 32,000 million dollars. The agreement. Google, under the leadership of L succinity Pichai, will disburse 32,000 million dollars (about 29,270 million euros) in a transaction entirely in cash. For now, they have signed a ‘definitive agreement’ that paves the way to close the operation. However, as is the case with any purchase of this magnitude, the process must still exceed the scrutiny of competition regulators in several countries, including the United States FTC, the United Kingdom CMA and the authorities of the European Union. Google’s most expensive purchase. Until now, no acquisition had cost the Mountain View giant so much. To put it in perspective, YouTube came out for 1,650 million dollars, Motorola for 12.5 billion and Mandiant for 5.4 billion. Wiz far exceed any previous figure. Behind the purchase. Multimillion -dollar acquisitions are not decisions that great technological ones take light. Behind each movement of this caliber there is a well -defined strategy. In this case, Google is committed to Wiz to reinforce cloud security and enhance its multicloud approach. If everything progresses as planned, the company will become part of Google Cloud, the ambitious cloud computing division that has acquired great notoriety in the middle of the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). What does Wiz stand out? This New York headquarters offers a cloud security platform that is integrated without interruptions with the main cloud services and code environments. Its technology quickly analyzes customer infrastructure, creating a detailed map of code, resources, services and applications, in addition to its connections. With this, identify possible attack routes, prioritizes the most critical risks and allows developers to strengthen safety before deployment. Google Cloud competition works with Wiz. What will happen now? Three of Google Cloud’s main rivals, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud, already use Wiz’s solutions. Now that Google’s purchase seems imminent, the doubt arises about the future of these agreements. As the company has advanced, Wiz services will remain available for third parties. In fact, Google Cloud plans to offer these security solutions to its partners through its marketplace. “We hope to welcome the Wiz team and offer better cybersecurity alternatives for companies and governments around the world,” said the company, making its approach clear. In development. Images | Arthur Osipyan | Google | Wiz In Xataka | The true crown jewel in Apple is not its products, but its credibility. And they just torpedo her

How to change all our passwords according to three cybersecurity experts

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Passwords have become an essential part of everyone’s digital life. In combination with other verification methods, They are the entrance door to almost all the digital services we use. We need them to make online banking efforts, but also to log in to email accounts, social networks, streaming platforms or online stores. Like house keys, passwords must be well protected to avoid dislikes. But sometimes it is not enough to save them well: there are times when they should change them or reinforce security with additional methods. The question is when. In Xataka we have asked three cybersecurity experts to clear doubts and know what decisions we should make. The problem of security gaps Francisco ValenciaCEO of the Computer Security Company Secure & Itopened the conversation with a blunt phrase: “The user has to think that passwords Sooner or later they will expose themselves” What the expert tells us is relevant, because we usually navigate this increasingly digital and interconnected world without being completely aware of the threats that surround us. Valencia explains that the exposure of our passwords, or what is the same, that they have been committed or revealed, can occur in two ways: that they rob us directly or subtract them from the services where we have registered them. When we register in some online service, this should protect our authentication data, however, as the specialist points out, it is often not so. To illustrate it, the interviewee remembers Yahoo’s case. In 2013, with Marissa Mayer in front, the company starred in a colossal security failure, considered by many as one of the largest in history, which exposed the data of 500 million accounts. The platform “It seemed reasonably safebut the passwords were stolen and informed the users years later, ”he says. “The user has to think that the passwords sooner or later will be exposed.” Alejandro BotterCyber ​​Security Evangelist of Check Pointreveals that “it is increasingly common for a data gap to present.” The expert indicates that these types of scenarios where there is some type of data exfiltration can occur in any field, from a hotel to a bank, although the latter should, in theory, have more robust security measures. While the leaks of our passwords by those who are trusted are a reality, Botter warns that the most traditional security threats, those in which we deliver our passwords involuntarily, are still very present. “We might access a site that was not correct And let’s leave our password, or that the device will be infected, ”he explains. It also emphasizes that awareness is essential to understand that cybercounts not only pursue important objectives, but any white can be. “Many people say: ‘Where will my email be? I don’t think it’s my turn. ‘” In this regard, he mentions that tools such as “Have I Been Pwned? “The reality of information leaks account very palpably. Asked about whether we should trust the page created more than a decade ago by the Australian security consultant Troy huntBotter highlights the positive aspect of the platform, but says that “there is debate about it”, and that we do only email We are providing information that “it is achieved in different ways on the Internet and that is not so complex to achieve.” What are we wrong with our passwords? Adrián Arrow, cybersecurity technician INCIBE- Certhe tells us that “for years, passwords have been the main method of access to our accounts, but also represent one of the greatest security risks.” The specialist of this Spanish Institute adds that “the reality is that most users reuse keys, choose weak combinations or fall into phishing attacks.” Valencia supports this perspective with a practical example: “When we make an audit and, for example, we find a password of a person’s tennis club, it turns out that looking for password password We see it in another pile of sites because that same user has put the password on all sides. And that makes criticism even greater. ” The CEO of Secure & It emphasizes that one of the most critical problems of password reuse is that, generally, they end up leaking by the weakest link. Since the user has used the same set of characters in other services, many times together with the same email address, he ends up exposing all his accounts in a way that would not have occurred in case of using different passwords. “The reality is that most users reuse keys, choose weak combinations or fall into phishing attacks.” “Passwords cannot be the same in all sites. People many times have two passwords, the easy and difficult, and It turns out that it puts the difficult at the bank And something else and the easy thing in everything else. The password cannot be the same, it has to always be different, it has to be random, it has to be difficult to remember, etc. ” This, he explains, will force us to use a password management tool The interviewee adds some quite useful examples: “Knowing the exhibition, if they steal a password, they will exclusively attack the service where I put it. The Facebook password steals me, it will only affect Facebook, but not anything else. Until now the gravity is that if the Facebook password is stolen, it turns out that it is also for my bank and therefore the exhibition is much worse. ” Users usually ask if using a password manager is a good idea. Arrow, from Incibe, explains that “password managers are one of the safer and practical tools PARA store and manage our access credentials ”, and highlights some of its advantages. It lists that they not only serve to store passwords, but are also useful for generating them. “While no technology is infallible, a well -designed manager offers much more security than scoring paper passwords or trying to remember them all. Currently, there is no manual alternative that is so safe and practical. There are cloud and local versions (without connection), but … Read more

5 applications that you must immediately uninstall to protect your bank data

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The cyber scams They advance almost at the same time that a new alternative or digital security option arises. And if we believed that cybercrequence had “housed” in applications, emails, text messages and calls with the intention of obtaining personal and bank information, the scammers have found a new way of violating users through apps that have The intention to protect the user: Applications of type VPN. These types of applications, increased in recent years, have the objective of providing an “extra filter” of safety and tranquility to the user because they create a safe connection between a device and a VPN server in various processes such as the payment of a service or the purchase of a product. Protect your information to avoid being a victim of cyber criminals.Credit: Shuttersock Therefore, these types of apps help protect online privacy, hide the IP address from where a bank transactionaccess to restricted content by region as well as protect from cyber attacks. Given this series of benefits, more than one user has decided to make use of these apps with the intention of avoiding Data filtration. However, and ironically, these applications have also caused a large number of scammers to discover a new opportunity to make their crimes. Through apps that are passed through transparent and reliable platforms, Cybercriminals They have the opportunity to steal information. VPN applications that you should uninstall of your cell phone Before the increase of this kind of Cyberdelitesthe cybersecurity company Kaspersky He launched a warning to its users and the general population about various applications that have been identified as fraudulent or false: Maskvpn DEWVPN Paladinvpn Proxigate Shieldvpn Shinevpn According to Kasperskyonce the app It is installed on a cell phone, it becomes a proxy server that It allows the scammer to access passwords, bank history, sensitive information and personal data of the user remotely and without raising suspicions. The victims of the scammers are usually elderly or immigrants.Credit: Shuttersock For all the above, the company mentions that the first action for Avoid data filtration It is uninstalling any of these applications immediately from the cell phone as well as reporting it in the digital store where it was downloaded. Similarly, recommend using type applications VPN that are verified or that come from official companies in Cybersecurity. Continue reading: Tiktok, the Chinese global phenomenon that faces possible closure in the US. The woman who lost $ 850,000 was cheated by a Brad Pitt created with artificial intelligence Instagram and Facebook are updated to be more transparent in data verification (tagstotranslate) Applications

What data can Google and WhatsApp give about their users after a court order, as in the case of the attorney general?

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The judicial case opened against Álvaro García Ortiz, attorney general of the State, continues to move forward to try to settle his responsibility in the leak to the media of Alberto Gómez Amador’s tax filepartner of Isabel Díaz Ayuso. After the procedures to track the prosecutor’s telephone numbers and requesting call information from telephone companiesnow Judge Ángel Hurtado will ask WhatsApp and Google to help recover messages of the applications installed on García Ortiz’s two cell phones and in his email account. At the request of the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, Judge Hurtado has ordered the issuance of a rogatory commission to the two technology companies so that they provide all the required data and know precisely if the prosecutor was involved in the leak. to the media about the emails between Gómez Amador’s lawyer and the Prosecutor’s Office. For this, requests WhatsApp for messages received and/or sent by the userchat backups and communication logs. Regarding Google, the judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court requests the data stored in the services and products linked to the accountbackups of linked devices, third-party applications, chats and communication logs, with crucial data such as date, time, origin, destination or type of communication. State security forces have the power to ask companies for copies of information that is related to an ongoing investigation. However, “access to these companies that usually operate or have their data outside the European Union is very limited,” according to statements to EL ESPAÑOL – El Androide Libre de David del Olmoforensic computer expert specialized in mobile devices. Requests for rogatory commissions and judicial authorizations are usually slow, and according to the expert, “in many cases we will only obtain access data, but not the content of the messages, which is encrypted“. In that case it would be necessary to “perform a forensic analysis on the mobile device and then compare the data with the operator, if it wants to collaborate.” EL ESPAÑOL – El Androide Libre has contacted representatives of Google and WhatsApp in Spain, but until the closing of this edition they have not made any statements and refer to their respective privacy policies. This is how WhatsApp manages In the case of WhatsApp, the Meta company ensures in your Help Center that “does not disclose the content of its users’ messages in response to government requestsand it can’t do that either.” End-to-end encryption “ensures that only you and the person you communicate with can read or hear what you send.” The text, image or video leaves the device sending it encrypted and It remains that way until it reaches the mobile phone designated as the recipient. Nobody, not even WhatsApp itself, can consult the content. Currently, when companies like Meta receive, through a court order, a request to inform the police or a judge of a suspect or accused in a criminal investigation, they can provide data such as name, contacts, active hours and other information, but never the content of the messages, which is protected with end-to-end encryption protocol. That information is only kept on the phone used or, if the user chooses, in the phone’s cloud-based backup associated with a Drive account. WhatsApp chats are end-to-end encrypted Unsplash Omicrono Government agencies send requests for user data to WhatsApp, more than 300,000 between January and June 2024 internationally, according to the latest report published by Meta. In the case of Spain, the figure drops to 3,100 requests in legal processes corresponding to 5,765 accounts or users, with 66.3% of cases in which requests produced some dataalthough these are not specified. To check if these requests comply with applicable laws and WhatsApp privacy policiesthe company “has a specialized and trained compliance team that reviews and evaluates each government request for user data, in order to determine whether the request was sent in the context of an emergency or as a legal process originating from authorities police or government”. Meta transparency portal report on user information requests Goal The Free Android If the mobile phone from which the communications were made is found, David del Olmo explains that, in the case of WhatsApp, the information “is stored in the local database on the device, so recovering deleted messages without access to backup is technically possible in some cases.” Everything will depend “on the appropriate tools, the level of encryption and the possible physical or logical limitations of the device.” This is how Google manages For its part, the Internet giant explains very clearly how it proceeds in these cases in the terms of service published on their website. “At Google we receive requests for the disclosure of information about users from public bodies around the world. We carefully review each of these requests to ensure that it complies with applicable laws,” they say in the section ‘How Google handles government requests for user information‘. Gmail Justin Morgan Unsplash “If a request asks for too much information, we try to limit it and, In some cases, we refuse to provide the information in its entirety. In the Transparency Report, we publish the number and type of requests we receive,” they conclude. Still, there is a nuance, since the response to these requests depends on which Google service provider is: Google LLC, being based in the US, is governed by US law, while Google Ireland Limited, the provider of Mountain View services in Europeoperates under Irish law. Every six months, and for the sake of transparency, Google publishes a detailed report on the number of government requests for user information and the number of accounts subject to these requests, which can give a reliable clue about the final result of the proceedings requested by the magistrate of the Supreme. In the last recorded period, from January to June 2024, Google received more than 7,180 government requests for information corresponding to 11,368 accounts around the world. Of all of them, In 85% of the cases (an average also applicable to Spain) data were … Read more

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