Cyber Incident Victim: Prefeitura de Santa Cruz do Sul
Date:
Jan 2024
Location:
Brazil
Summary
Prefeitura de Santa Cruz do Sul confirmed a cyberattack on its computer network, prompting the IT department to isolate the system to protect data integrity. The isolation disrupted telephone and internet services at the municipal headquarters and administrative center, took the official website offline, and delayed the education secretary’s selection process inscriptions. No evidence of data leakage was found, while the finance secretary suspended in‑person attendance and directed staff to work remotely; alternative online links were provided for taxpayers to continue issuing and managing municipal service invoices.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 0 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On the morning of Thursday, January 25, 2024, the Prefeitura de Santa Cruz do Sul confirmed that its computer network had been targeted by a cyber attack. The municipality’s Department of Information Technology detected the intrusion and, as a preventive measure to protect data integrity, decided to isolate the affected network. This isolation was carried out immediately after the attack was identified, cutting off connectivity to the compromised systems. As a result, telephone and internet services were interrupted at the Palacinho da Praça da Bandeira and the Administrative Center I, where the secretariats of Administration, Finance, Planning and Governance, Education, Housing and Land Regularization operate.
The interruption also rendered the municipal website inaccessible, which directly affected the online registration period for the education secretary’s selection process. In response to the service outage, the Prefeitura announced that the registration deadline would be extended by two days once the website and related services were restored, with the new date to be communicated publicly. Simultaneously, the Finance Secretariat suspended in‑person public attendance and instructed its employees to work from home on the following Friday. No evidence of data leakage was reported by the authorities during the incident.
Throughout the outage, the Prefeitura stated that it was working to restore normal operations as quickly as possible, focusing on re‑establishing network connectivity and bringing the website back online. To assist citizens who needed to issue municipal service invoices, the administration provided alternative online links for generating, consulting, canceling and managing NFSe documents. The municipality committed to informing the public about any further developments regarding the attack and the recovery timeline.