By Ron Howells • Published: 07 Jul 2021 • 22:38
EU countries agree to extend Covid-19 certificate
Security breach in Madrid’s Covid certificate portal ‘did not expose personal data’ said Spain’s Ministry of Health.
The Community of Madrid today (July 7) detected a security breach in the citizen portal that is used for obtaining the Covid-19 certificate, although it has denied that the personal data of citizens registered on the platform have been exposed.
The cybersecurity breach could, in theory at least, expose the private data of thousands of Madrid citizens such as those of King Felipe VI or the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, among other high ranking figures.
“It is false that any citizen can enter the web pages of the Ministry of Health of the Community of Madrid to obtain the Covid certificate and that confidential information such as the clinical data of the King, the President of the Government or other former presidents can be accessed,” sources from the Ministry of Health said.
The same sources have reported that this incident was caused by the uploading of an update that passed the test protocols and that in the process of implementation generated a breach that was solved within hours after being detected by technicians.
The Ministry of Health specified that the Madrid security breach incident did not affect clinical data and “of course did not compromise the alteration of any information in the databases”. The ministry also explained that to access this information the ID card of the person in question would be required and insisted that “the improperly generated access has been blocked”.
The incident was “solved within hours”, according to a spokesman.
Spain started issuing the EU Digital COVID Certificate to all citizens in Spain who apply for it on June 7. This new system was seen as a decisive step in opening up Spain to safe international mobility.
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Ron actually started his working career as an Ophthalmic Technician- things changed when, during a band rehearsal, his amplifier blew up and he couldn’t get it fixed so he took a course at Birmingham University and ended up doing a degree course. He built up a chain of electronics stores and sold them as a franchise over 35 years ago. After five years touring the world Ron decided to move to Spain with his wife and son, a place they had visited over the years, and only bought the villa they live in because it has a guitar-shaped swimming pool!. Playing the guitar since the age of 7, he can often be seen, (and heard!) at beach bars and clubs along the length of the coast. He has always been interested in the news and constantly thrives to present his articles in an interesting and engaging way.
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