Security News > 2021 > February > Ransomware gang hacks Ecuador's largest private bank, Ministry of Finance
A hacking group called 'Hotarus Corp' has hacked Ecuador's Ministry of Finance and the country's largest bank, Banco Pichincha, where they claim to have stolen internal data.
The ransomware gang first targeted Ecuador's Ministry of Finance, the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas de Ecuador, where they deployed a PHP-based ransomware strain to encrypt a site hosting an online course.
The ransomware gang told BleepingComputer that they have stolen "Sensitive ministry information, emails, employee information, contracts."
After the Ministry of Finance attack, Hotarus Corp hacked Ecuador's largest private bank, Banco Pichincha.
BleepingComputer has not been able to verify the threat actors' claims of stealing data from the Ministry of Finance or Banco Pichincha.
We have reached out to Ecuador's Ministry of Finance and Banco Pichincha to learn more about the attacks but have not heard back at this time.