The Mexican government has suffered a major data breach, the president’s health issues said

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MEXICO CITY, September 30, 2011 The Mexican government said on Friday that it had suffered a major cyber hack by armed forces, including details of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s heart attack in January.

The president said at a regular news conference that the information from the Ministry of Defense hack that was released overnight by the local media was genuine and that the revelations about his own health problems were true.

“It is true that it was a cyber hack,” he said, adding that the hackers took advantage of a change in the Army’s IT system.

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According to media reports, the hack included six terabytes of information from the Department of Defense, including information about criminals, transcripts of communications and surveillance of the US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar.

The US embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This data breach follows the government’s announcement last Thursday that a military helicopter crashed last July and killed 14 people because the plane ran out of fuel.

Javier Oliva, a political scientist at Mexico’s National Autonomous University, said the leak represents a “very serious display of vulnerability,” especially at a time when the role of Mexico’s military is hotly debated.

The hack revealed that López Obrador, 68, had angina and had 10 medical consultations in the first half of January.

In the year López Obrador, who suffered a heart attack in 2013, said he was taken to hospital in January because he feared he might suffer another. The government had earlier said he underwent cardiac catheterization that month. Lopez Obrador said he was taking blood pressure medication and exercising.

“I’ve been taking a nightly cocktail[of drugs]for various ailments,” he said, “but I’m pretty good.”

The hack was carried out by a group named by local media as “Guacamaya” – or “Macau” in Spanish.

López Obrador, a supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, said the group likely had an outside source.

According to the classified Denial of Secrets, Guacamaya has been involved in a series of hacks targeting security forces in Latin America, claiming responsibility for hacks in Peru, El Salvador, Chile and Colombia.

Guacamaya’s statement, shared on the platform, accuses the region’s armed forces of criminal violence and aiding “specialized companies from the Global North.”

Mexican journalist Carlos Lloret, who first reported on the details of the leak, said government critics said the ministry’s information showed how much the armed forces had access to under López Obrador. Customs.

Lawmakers this month approved a law extending the military’s time to fight crime, defying criticism that the military is militarizing public safety. Read more

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Reporting by Sarah Moreland; Editing by Dave Graham, Mark Porter, Chris Reese and Leslie Adler

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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