Cyber-attackers Target Brazilian Government Websites

By Author: eccuni
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In yet another security incident, several Brazilian websites suffered cyber-attack. The latest attacks targeted the websites of the Brazilian federal government, Presidency and Internal Revenue Service. The attackers also disabled the websites of Petrobras, a Brazilian oil company. Attackers reportedly initiated large number of requests to access the website. A self-proclaimed Brazilian branch of Lulz Sec has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks. The distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks disrupted the operations of the websites, making them inaccessible to intended users for few hours. Information security professionals were successful in restoring access to the sites. Preliminary investigations have not revealed leakage of any sensitive information. The attacks on the Brazilian sites are the latest addition to a barrage of attacks on different government and business websites across the world.

Lulz Sec had earlier made public, its intentions to attack government websites and extract classified government data. The cyber-attack group has also sought other attackers to join its campaign termed ‘Anti-Sec’. ...
... The attack group had been vibrantly targeting government, business and gaming sites. Recently, Lulz Sec attacked the websites of SOCA, CIA and U.S Senate. The attacks on Brazilian websites come at a time, when counter crime officials in United Kingdom (U.K) arrested an alleged member of the group. Lulz Sec has reportedly stated that the arrested person is at best a distant associate of the group.

The barrage of attacks, once again emphasize on the need to improve the strength of the security infrastructure of government and corporate organizations. Security professionals must regularly monitor the web traffic to detect and restrict suspicious requests. IT security specialists qualified in masters of security science and penetration testing may help in making proper evaluation of security threats, pre-empt attackers in identifying and mitigating lapses in the IT infrastructure.

Access to sensitive government, business and customer information may have severe repercussions. Government bodies and organizations must encourage their staff to acquaint themselves on cyber security fundamentals through online tutorials and online degree programs. Cyber security awareness is crucial to improve the computing practices and securing systems and networks from malicious attacks. Attackers regularly attempt to exploit security flaws on websites, and organizational networks through different attack techniques and tools. Security breach incidents impact the confidence of different stakeholders of the affected government or business organizations. Attacks on energy companies and access to confidential proprietary information may result in strategic losses and impact future operations of the companies.

Proactive approach to improve security practices and mitigation of security lapses is crucial to ward off multifarious threats. Organizations may check the preparedness of the IT staff to combat security threats by conducting mock tests and drills. IT professionals are under constant challenge to prevent intrusion attempts, unauthorized access, safeguard computer systems and protection of business and customer databases. As such, they must keep themselves updated on latest developments in the security industry, evolving technologies, and best practices. Security professionals may benefit from online university degree courses to meet their training requirements and enhance their technical skills and know-how.