The National Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Technology (INIA-CSIC) suffered a cyber attack on November 12 that has left its more than 600 employees without access to computers, the Internet or data stored on the internal network. The situation affects scientific and administrative operations, complicating orders for essential materials and care for research animals, as reported by El País.
The INIA, part of the CSIC, is a reference in agricultural, livestock and environmental research, in addition to working with advanced techniques such as CRISPR genetic editing. It also plays a key role in the conservation of endangered species. This cyberattack is the first in the history of the institute according to its management. However, workers at the center have explained to the aforementioned media that it has many obsolete computers that do not support modern systems such as Windows 11, which multiplies the vulnerabilities.
To mitigate the effects, the CSIC has invited researchers to telework while essential processes are manually managed. The Cybersecurity Operations Center of the General State Administration is investigating the attack, but no details about its origin or scope have been released. The disconnection also affects key centers such as Animal Health, which handles dangerous pathogens, and other INIA departments.
The problem persists two weeks after the incident, with employees limitedly informed through internal emails. Despite the efforts of the institute’s IT team and an external company, the network remains inoperative. It is not known if the cyberattack has compromised sensitive information. For now, neither the CSIC nor the Ministry of Science have offered public explanations about the situation.
This incident is reminiscent of the ransomware attack that the CSIC suffered in 2022, when another cyberattack left its network inoperative for more than a month. On that occasion, the INIA was not affected, but this time it has not had the same luck.
#largest #center #CSIC #paralyzed #weeks #due #cyber #attack
