Paraguay hit by catastrophic data breach as hacktivists leak personal data of entire population
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Paraguay is facing one of the most devastating data breaches in the nation's history. Hackers have leaked the personal information of approximately 7.4 million citizens - essentially the country's entire population - after the government refused to pay a $7.4 million ransom demand.
The data was published on June 13, 2025, following Paraguay's decision not to comply with the extortion demands from a group calling itself "Brigada Cyber PMC". The breach was caused by an attack that began with Redline information-stealing malware compromising government employee credentials. Hudson Rock researchers traced the breach back to an infostealer infection on a government employee's device with access to the domain rve.mspbs.gov.py, connected to Paraguay's Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfar.
The hackers used the stolen credentials to gain unauthorized access to critical government systems via phpMyAdmin interfaces, allowing them to slowly exfiltrate massive datasets over an extended period.
Brigada Cyber PMC posted a ransom note on the dark web demanding $7.4 million - symbolically $1 per Paraguayan citizen. When Paraguay's government declined to pay, the hackers released the data through torrent files, effectively making anyone who downloads it a peer distributor.
The exposed data includes:
- Names and full identification details
- Birthdates and ages
- National ID card numbers
- Professional occupations and employment information
- Educational certificates and credentials
- Government employee salary and payment information
- COVID-19 vaccination records
- Medical and health-related documents
- Financial information and banking details
Resecurity confirmed that the leaked data contained "information about the entire population" of Paraguay's nearly 7 million citizens, with the company speaking directly to multiple victims who confirmed their data was accurate.
Initially, Paraguayan officials attempted to downplay the incident, with Minister of Technology and Information Gustavo Villate suggesting the data was "not recent" and urging the public not to panic. Four days after the data was released, President Santiago Peña announced the launch of a national cybersecurity strategy to "protect citizens' rights and data in the digital age", acknowledging the severity of the breach.
