Ransomware Attack Strikes Spain’s Employment Agency

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The Spanish State Employment Service (SEPE) in Spain has been hit by a cyberattack, suspending its communications systems across hundreds of offices and delaying thousands of appointments.
 
SEPE is an “autonomous body” in Spain that manages and controls unemployment benefits. The cyberattack hit during an already strenuous time for the agency, which is dealing with an overflow of requests for unemployment benefits as the coronavirus pandemic has forced companies globally to make cuts to their workforces.
 
According to Spanish trade union Central Sindical Independiente y de Funcionarios (CSIF), the attack has has affected the organization’s 710 offices. The labor union claimed that the cyberattack stemmed from ransomware – however, further details about the attack, including its origin and the ransom demand, are unknown.
 
“The SEPE is being subjected to a security incident during which the availability of its information and communication systems has been affected,” according to a Google-translated version of a message on the SEPE’s website. “The first urgent actions carried out have been carried out as quickly as possible and with the main objective of containing the incident, isolating and, therefore, mitigating its impact on the SEPE systems.”
 
According to Business Insider Spain, the cyberattack is the work of the Ryuk ransomware. The threat group has hit a number of organizations over the past year, such as Universal Health Services.
 
CSIF said the incident has delayed the management of “hundreds of thousands” of appointments in Spain for those trying to file for unemployment benefits. SEPE, for its part, said that it is still working to manually process unemployment benefit requests and it is not necessary to renew requests.

Read more: Ransomware Attack Strikes Spain’s Employment Agency | Threatpost