Incident: Cyber Attack on Venezuela's National Electoral Council Website.

Published Date: 2017-07-31

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) website in Venezuela happened on July 31, 2017, as reported in Article 61302.
System 1. Website of Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela 2. Twitter account of Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) 3. Websites of various government entities, including the channel VTV [Article 61302]
Responsible Organization 1. The software failure incident on the website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela was caused by a group called The Binary Guardians who hacked the site and also took over the CNE's Twitter account [61302].
Impacted Organization 1. Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) de Venezuela [61302] 2. Twitter account of the CNE [61302] 3. Various government entities including the channel VTV [61302]
Software Causes 1. The software failure incident was caused by a hack on the website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela, leading to it being inaccessible and displaying a message from the hackers [61302].
Non-software Causes 1. Political motives: The hack on the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) website in Venezuela was driven by political motives, as the hackers expressed dissatisfaction with the government and the electoral process [61302].
Impacts 1. The website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela was hacked, displaying a message from the hackers indicating a potential fraud and threatening further actions [61302]. 2. The CNE's Twitter account was also hacked, leading to a loss of control over the account [61302]. 3. The hack extended to other government entities, including the state television channel VTV, causing their websites to go offline [61302].
Preventions 1. Implementing robust cybersecurity measures to prevent unauthorized access and hacking attempts [61302]. 2. Regularly updating and patching software to address vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers [61302]. 3. Conducting regular security audits and penetration testing to identify and address potential weaknesses in the system [61302]. 4. Enhancing user authentication processes to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive systems and data [61302]. 5. Educating employees and users about cybersecurity best practices to prevent social engineering attacks and unauthorized access [61302].
Fixes 1. Enhancing cybersecurity measures to prevent future hacking incidents [61302]. 2. Conducting a thorough security audit of the website and implementing necessary patches and updates to address vulnerabilities [61302]. 3. Implementing multi-factor authentication to secure access to sensitive systems and accounts [61302].
References 1. Tibisay Lucena, president of the CNE [Article 61302] 2. The Binary Guardians group [Article 61302]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization, multiple_organization (a) The software failure incident having happened again at one_organization: - The software failure incident of hacking occurred again at the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) in Venezuela. The CNE's website was hacked, and later, their Twitter account was also hacked by a group called The Binary Guardians [61302]. (b) The software failure incident having happened again at multiple_organization: - The group responsible for the hacking incident, The Binary Guardians, claimed to have hacked multiple government entities' websites, including the state television channel VTV [61302].
Phase (Design/Operation) design, operation (a) The software failure incident in Article 61302 was related to the design phase. The website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela was hacked, indicating a failure due to contributing factors introduced by the system development or system updates. The hackers were able to breach the system and display messages on the website, indicating a vulnerability in the design or development of the system [61302]. (b) Additionally, the incident also involved operation-related failures. After the initial hack on the CNE website, the hackers proceeded to hack the CNE's Twitter account, indicating a failure due to contributing factors introduced by the operation or misuse of the system. The inability to secure the Twitter account and prevent subsequent hacks suggests operational vulnerabilities in maintaining the security of the system [61302].
Boundary (Internal/External) outside_system The software failure incident reported in Article 61302 was primarily due to contributing factors that originated from outside the system. The Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) website of Venezuela was hacked by a group called The Binary Guardians, who took responsibility for the hack and made various threats and statements through messages left on the website and the CNE's Twitter account. The hackers mentioned that their "lucha es digital" (digital fight) and emphasized their ability to access electronic information in the country. They also targeted other government entities' websites, indicating a coordinated effort from outside the system to disrupt services [61302].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions (a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions: The software failure incident in this case was due to a hack carried out by a group called The Binary Guardians. They hacked into the website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela, leaving a message indicating the hack and making political statements [61302]. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions: The software failure incident in this case was not directly caused by human actions but rather by the actions of a group of hackers known as The Binary Guardians. Their actions led to the hacking of the CNE website and the disruption of services [61302].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily related to software issues rather than hardware. The incident involved the hacking of the website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela, where hackers infiltrated the site, displayed messages, and disrupted the services. The hackers, known as The Binary Guardians, targeted various online platforms, including the CNE website and the Twitter account of the organization, indicating a software-related security breach [61302].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) malicious (a) The software failure incident reported in Article 61302 was malicious in nature. The website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela was hacked by a group calling themselves The Binary Guardians. They left messages on the hacked website and Twitter account threatening the government and claiming their "lucha es digital" (digital fight). The hackers mentioned that their objective was to disrupt the government's online presence and expressed their opposition to the government's actions, particularly regarding the controversial elections and the formation of a new Constituent Assembly. Their actions were intentional and aimed at causing disruption and sending a message to the government [61302].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown The intent of the software failure incident reported in Article 61302 was related to poor_decisions. The failure was due to the website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela being hacked by a group called The Binary Guardians. The hackers expressed their dissatisfaction with the government and the election results, indicating that their actions were a form of protest against what they perceived as corruption and censorship. Their intent was to disrupt the government's online presence and convey a message of opposition to the current regime. The incident involved deliberate actions aimed at causing disruption and sending a political message rather than accidental or unintended decisions [61302].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident reported in Article 61302 was not due to development incompetence but rather a deliberate hack by a group called The Binary Guardians. The group hacked the website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela and also took over the CNE's Twitter account. The incident was a result of intentional actions by the hackers rather than incompetence in development [61302]. (b) The software failure incident in Article 61302 was accidental. It was a deliberate hack carried out by The Binary Guardians, a group that took control of the CNE's website and Twitter account. The incident was not accidental but a planned attack by the hackers [61302].
Duration temporary The software failure incident reported in Article 61302 was temporary. The article mentions that the website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) de Venezuela was hacked, leading to the site displaying a message from the hackers. However, the service was later restored, indicating that the failure was temporary [61302].
Behaviour crash, other (a) crash: The software failure incident in Article 61302 can be categorized as a crash. The website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela was hacked, leading to the system losing its state and not performing its intended functions. Users were unable to connect to the server of the website after the initial message from the hackers appeared [61302]. (b) omission: There is no specific mention of the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s) in the articles. (c) timing: The timing of the software failure incident is not explicitly described in the articles. (d) value: The software failure incident does not involve the system performing its intended functions incorrectly. (e) byzantine: The behavior of the software failure incident in Article 61302 does not align with a byzantine failure where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. (f) other: The other behavior exhibited in this software failure incident is unauthorized access and control by hackers who defaced the website and took over the Twitter account of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela [61302].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence theoretical_consequence, unknown (a) unknown (b) unknown (c) unknown (d) unknown (e) unknown (f) unknown (g) no_consequence (h) harm: The software failure incident did not result in any real observed consequences as mentioned in the articles. However, there were potential consequences discussed, such as the threat made by the hackers towards the government officials and the disruption caused to government websites [61302]. (i) unknown
Domain information (a) The failed system in this incident was related to the industry of information. The software failure incident involved the hacking of the website of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) of Venezuela, impacting the production and distribution of information [Article 61302].

Sources

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