The Chilean Army’s Joint Chiefs of Staff emails have been accessed by a “hacktivist” group called Guacamaya. The group has published more than 400,000 emails with private information regarding the Army and the Ministry of Defense. The leak also affects Chile’s police forces.
On Sept. 19, the Chilean government acknowledged that its Army’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (EMCO) had been hacked by a group called Guacamaya. That same day, the group also leaked 10 years’ worth of information, more than 400,000 emails, regarding Chile’s state security.
As El Mostrador reports, Guacamaya is a group of “hacktivists” that targets military forces in South America and is behind numerous prior leaks of national security information and private companies in Latin America. In the past, the group has hacked and leaked military documents about Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and El Salvador.
Regarding this latest hack, CIPER reports that there is information about cybersecurity strategies for the country and methods to intercept communications, files with data concerning the migratory crisis in the north of Chile, and records of military spending. The emails are from 162 members of Chile’s Army, Navy, Air Force, national police force (Carabineros), and Investigations Police (PDI).
Several emails are classified as “ultra secret.”
There is also information regarding militarization in the Wallmapu zone. The Rio Times notes, for example, that in just six months the Navy spent CLP$692 million in militarizing Biobío during the State of Emergency in the area because of the Mapuche resistance.
Consequences of the leak
In response to the leak, President Gabriel Boric, who at the time was in New York City accompanied by some of his ministers, asked Defense Minister Maya Fernández to return to the country to evaluate the situation. The government also announced that it would submit a summary to EMCO and initiate a criminal investigation.
On Sept. 23, four days after the leak, the government accepted the resignation of General Guillermo Paiva, EMCO’s leader. Radio Universidad de Chile reports that a crisis committee was also created that day to investigate the leak and that Congress has called upon the heads of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to testify.
Catalina Vergara is graduated in Social Communications from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She has previously worked on Strategic Communications.