BREAKING NEWS: Ministry of Labour Hit By Cyber-Attack

The Ministry of Labour and Social Economy in Madrid was hit by a cyber-attack this morning. It is unclear if the attack is a ransomware attack or how sophisticated a challenge it will pose to restore networks at ministry.

IT experts at the ministry and from the National Cryptological Centre, an agency within Spain’s National Intelligence Centre, are working to determine the origin of the attack and restore normality as soon as possible.

The Ministry tweeted at 11.27am on June 9, “The Ministry of Labour and Social Economy has been affected by a computer attack. The technical managers of the Ministry and the National Cryptological Centre are working together to determine the origin and restore normality as soon as possible.”

In March 2020, the Ministry was hit by a cyber-attack which seriously impacted the Spanish State Employment Service (SEPE). SEPE was forced to suspend its communications systems across hundreds of offices and postpone thousands of appointments.

Its website was also inaccessible for about two weeks and the ransomware attack delayed thousands of ERTE applications, certificates and applications for other benefits just as Spain’s strict Covid-19 lockdown took hold.

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