vicesociety attacks Ministry of Agriculture

Incident Date:

June 27, 2022

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Overview

Title

vicesociety attacks Ministry of Agriculture

Victim

Ministry of Agriculture

Attacker

Vicesociety

Location

Dokki, Egypt

Giza, Egypt

First Reported

June 27, 2022

Ransomware Attack on the Ministry of Agriculture in Egypt

Victim Profile

The Ministry of Agriculture in Egypt plays a pivotal role in overseeing the nation's agricultural reforms. As an integral part of the Ministry of Agriculture, its website serves as a hub for disseminating information on various agricultural initiatives and partnerships. This includes highlighting the flourishing Egyptian-Indian relations and the anticipated boost in bilateral trade.

Attack Details

The ransomware group known as vicesociety has publicly taken responsibility for compromising the Ministry of Agriculture in Egypt. While the group has made their claim on their dark web leak site, specifics regarding the nature of the attack or the ransom demanded remain undisclosed. This incident is part of a broader pattern of ransomware attacks targeting government entities across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Vulnerabilities and Mitigation

This incident underscores the critical importance of implementing stringent cybersecurity defenses within government bodies. A similar attack on the Dominican Republic's Agrarian Institute (IAD) prompted officials to declare their refusal to pay the ransom, a stance aimed at deterring future attacks. To safeguard against ransomware threats, it is imperative for organizations to adopt comprehensive cybersecurity practices. These include conducting regular software updates, providing cybersecurity training to employees, employing reputable security solutions, and ensuring the availability of secure backups for essential data. Establishing a clear and effective incident response strategy is also crucial in mitigating the damage from potential ransomware incursions.

Sources

Recent Ransomware Attacks

The Recent Ransomware Attacks (RRA) site acts as a watchtower, providing you with near real-time ransomware tracking of attacks, groups and their victims. Given threat actors’ overarching, lucrative success so far, ransomware attacks have become the most ubiquitous, and financially and informationally impactful cyber threat to businesses and organizations today.

The site’s data is generated based on hosting choices of real-world threat actors, and a handful of other trackers. While sanitization efforts have been taken, we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy of the data. Attack updates will be made as source data is reported by reputable sources. By viewing, accessing, or using RRA you acknowledge you are doing so at your own risk.