Ministry of Health suffered 2nd hacker attack, says Marcelo Queiroga

The Ministry of Health suffered a new hacker attack between Sunday (12) and Monday (13) and part of the folder’s systems is unavailable, said Minister Marcelo Queiroga.

“In relation to this (attack), it was something minor. We are working to recover it as quickly as possible,” declared the minister on Monday.

In a note, Health had only said that the system was under maintenance. “The Ministry of Health informs DATASUS performs preventive maintenance on the Folder’s internal network, this Monday (13). With that, the internal systems will be temporarily unavailable,” said the folder, before Queiroga’s speech.

The ministry’s website is down this Monday. In addition, the ConnectSUS platform has not issued proof of vaccination against Covid for four days due to another hacker attack, recorded in the early hours of Friday (10).

The system also gathers information on the clinical history of patients, medications dispensed and exams performed. These features also did not work again.

The Ministry of Health informed, by note, that the folder is working to restore ConnectSUS this week.

Minister Queiroga stated that the idea was to put the systems back online on Tuesday (14), but suggested that the new attack could delay plans.

“I said that until tomorrow. Then there was this other attack. Unfortunately, we are victims of these figures,” said the minister.

In a statement released this Monday, the GSI (Institutional Security Office) stated that the attacks on the 10th occurred “against government bodies in a cloud environment”.

“The Government is acting in a coordinated manner to resume services, which are being reactivated as treatment takes place,” said the GSI. The folder also issued an alert with recommendations to government agencies to mitigate risks.

​The Ministry of Health said on Sunday that it has completed the process of recovering vaccination records against Covid-19 and that no data has been lost.

On social networks, people who were able to access the ConnectSUS application report the disappearance of information about immunization.

When the vaccines item is selected, the application shows the message: “Wait up to 10 business days for your vaccine record to appear on ConectaSUS, if it doesn’t, look for the health establishment where you took the vaccine and request registration in the National Network of Health Data (RNDS), from the Ministry of Health”.

There are also reports of difficulty logging in and using other functions.

The problem at the Ministry of Health comes at a time of pressure against the federal government for stricter control of borders, after the discovery of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The Federal Police opened an inquiry to investigate the hacker attack and assess the extent of the invasion carried out against different sectors of the federal government since Friday.

The government has made available a website with guidelines for the temporary issuance of proof of vaccination from Covid-19.

The Health recommendation is to look for the vaccination post where the doses were applied to request a second copy of the National Vaccination Card. There is the possibility to prove the vaccination through the physical card.

In addition, many states have their own tools, although those using the Ministry of Health database may also be experiencing instability.

The Health also informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will still send a notice to countries that will receive flights originating in Brazil to warn about the temporary unavailability of the system.

After the hacker attack, the Bolsonaro government announced that it would postpone the application of the new rules for the entry of travelers to Brazil by a week. The measures would take effect on Saturday (11), and travelers without vaccine would have to quarantine for five days.

But the new form of control was anticipated by an injunction by Luís Roberto Barroso, minister of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), released on Saturday. He even ordered the government to bar the unvaccinated, with some exceptions.

The Jair Bolsonaro government has not yet published an ordinance to adapt to the injunction. However, Anvisa informed this Monday (13) that it started to demand a vaccination certificate from anyone who enters Brazil through airports or at the land border.