Photo: Deposit Photos

By KELIN DILLON

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s former Director of Infrastructure Security and Cybersecurity Christopher Krebs, Mexico’s recent hacking scandals – particularly the leak of millions of the Secretariat of Defense’s (Sedena) emails by hacktivist group Guacamaya – have put the nation’s secrets at risks on a global scale, prompting Krebs to recommend that Mexico strengthen its cybersecurity infrastructure in order to prevent additional breaches to both its facilities and systems.

In an interview with Mexican daily newspaper El Universal, Krebs said that Mexico’s infrastructure, “which is being built by foreign companies that have shown adversity to Mexico and the United States,” presents the biggest risk to the integrity of the nation’s cybersecurity.

Krebs went on to mention that as the relationship between Mexico and the United States continues to strengthen, intelligence from countries like Russia and China will have a greater motivation in exploiting Mexico’s vulnerable cybersecurity infrastructure.

“Just as our trade increases, the interest of foreign espionage services, such as the Russian or Chinese, increases on us,” said Krebs. 

“The more this relationship between Mexico and the United States grows, intelligence services will seek to infiltrate more players in Mexico to extract information and exploit it, due to this bilateral relationship,” added Krebs. “Both Russia and China continue to grow their infiltration in the country.”

Interestingly enough, emails sourced from the Guacamaya Sedena hack revealed the purported presence of former Russian special forces in Mexico, who allegedly have been training Mexican organized crime groups in combat.

As the commercial bonds between the United States and Mexico continue to expand, Krebs recommends that Mexico prioritize investing in modern technology, work with the private sector to eliminate antiquated technology, and collaborate with the United States on intelligence to better identify and defend against cybersecurity threats.

However, Krebs made sure to mention that cyberhack attacks are becoming more frequent on a global scale, sourcing from nations like China and Russia and vigilante hackers alike. With this in mind, Krebs concluded that “there is a very clear shortage of talent on the side of companies or governments to defend themselves. This allows the attacks to evolve, which inevitably continue to grow.”