Cyberattack disrupts Senegal ID department’s operations

Senegal's Directorate of File Automation, which leads management of the country's national ID cards, passports, biometric records, and other sensitive details, has disclosed being hit with a cyberattack that temporarily suspended its operations following the Green Blood Group ransomware gang's claims of having stolen 139 GB of data from the agency's systems, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Included in the allegedly stolen data trove were citizen database records, immigration files, and biometric details, said Green Blood Group. The ransomware operation also leaked an email from Quik Saw Choo, a senior general manager at the IRIS Corporation Berhad that was contracted to create Senegal's new national ID cards. Such an email, which was sent on Jan. 20, warned of the exfiltration of card personalization data following the breach of a pair of DAF servers the day before. Multiple security measures have already been taken by IRIS to mitigate the intrusion, said Choo in the email.