Instituto de Información Estadística y Geográfica del Estado de Jalisco

The Instituto de Información Estadística y Geográfica del Estado de Jalisco (IIEG) serves as the official state entity responsible for generating, compiling, and disseminating statistical and geographic information for the government and public of Jalisco, Mexico. Its core mandate involves producing authoritative data and analysis to support governmental planning, policy development, and public transparency across the state. The institute’s systems are integral to state administrative functions, as evidenced by its direct involvement with the state Congress, managing parliamentary records, procedural documents, and accounting systems. A significant cyber incident in December 2022 starkly illustrated its operational role when a ransomware attack named "Play" targeted both IIEG and the Jalisco state Congress, encrypting data across 14 legislative servers and rendering the institute’s own website inaccessible. This attack disrupted critical governmental operations, forcing a reliance on temporary tools to maintain continuity, and thrust the institute’s data stewardship responsibilities into the spotlight.

The scale of the cybersecurity challenge facing IIEG was further quantified in the incident overview, which noted that the institute had recorded over 29 billion cyberattack attempts against its digital infrastructure during the seven months preceding the December breach. This extraordinary volume underscores the persistent and intense threat environment in which the institute operates, highlighting systemic vulnerabilities within its defensive posture. The specific ransomware incident compromised data integrity and availability, with the full scope of data loss—whether through deletion or exfiltration—remaining undetermined. Authorities also observed potential connections between the attacking group and cybercriminal networks active in other regions, such as Argentina, suggesting a sophisticated and potentially transnational threat actor. Consequently, the event positioned IIEG not only as a victim of a severe operational disruption but also as a case study in the cybersecurity risks confronting public sector data institutions at the subnational level in Mexico.