Two weeks after the departmental council of Seine-et-Marne, it is the Guadeloupe region which is the subject of a virulent cyberattack. A large red banner bars the website of the local authority: “the regional council is currently undergoing a large-scale computer attack. As a security measure, all computer networks have been interrupted in order to protect the data and a diagnosis is in progress, ”announces the region. For the moment, the hackers responsible for the attack do not seem to have made themselves known.
A complaint has been filed. The region says it is working with the help of a specialized firm to limit the consequences of the attack, but also with the National Information Systems Security Agency, the police and the gendarmerie.
A crisis cell set up
In an internal communication, sent to agents at the end of the afternoon and consulted by AFP, the regional authorities indicate that a crisis unit has been set up and recommends that agents be extra vigilant.
The regional council of Guadeloupe is added to the list of local entities affected in recent months by computer attacks, after the Corbeil-Essonnes hospital in August, the city of Caen at the end of September, the department of Seine-Maritime in October and that of Seine-et-Marne barely two weeks ago. In Essonne, a ransom of 10 million dollars, then reduced to one or two million dollars, according to the sources, had been requested from the hospital center.
The regional council of Guadeloupe administers the interurban transport of the archipelago, the high schools and places of higher education, learning, regional planning, environmental issues, and the economic development of the islands, as many files whose management is currently paralyzed.