Cybersecurity in Brazil
CS is becoming a high profile policy and political issue in Brazil. This chapter analyzes how Brazil’s unique political, cultural social and economic contexts are reflected in the country’s CS-regulatory framework and strategy. Especially the Brazilian go
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Cybersecurity in Brazil
12.1
Introduction
Brazil’s social, economic, political, and cultural characteristics provide unique and fascinating insights into the key drivers of cybercrimes and the nature of CS measures. The country is both a major source and a target of cyber-attacks. Some of the world’s well-known cybercriminal gangs operate from the country. For instance, in 2004, two-thirds of the world’s paedophile pages were reportedly hosted in Brazil (Leyden 2004a). Economic losses related to cybercrime were estimated at US$8 billion in 2012 (Symantec 2012). The country also faces politically motivated internal cyber-threats. For instance, Brazilian government agencies’ websites have been attacked frequently by the Anonymous and other hacking groups (Southern Pulse 2011). Likewise, although Brazilian officials have denied, CS experts outside the country have suggested that the 2009 blackouts which affected over 60 million people, and similar blackouts in Espirito Santo State in 2007 and Rio de Janeiro in 2005 may have been caused by cyber-attacks (Libicki 2013). CS is becoming a high profile policy and political issue in Brazil. In November 2012, Brazil approved cybercrime legislation and made other policy improvements. Development of CS policies is one of the six key areas of in the priorities for 2014 set by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) for the development of the country’s basic technology policies (Mari 2014a).
12.2
Cyber-Threats Facing Brazil
Table 12.1 presents some examples of real and perceived cyber-threats facing Brazil. Brazil has earned its reputation as the “king of the banking Trojan” (Theriault 2011). Whereas cybercriminals mostly rely on a small number of © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 N. Kshetri, The Quest to Cyber Superiority, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40554-4_12
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Cybersecurity in Brazil
Table 12.1 Real and perceived cyber-threats facing Brazil: some examples Political
Economic
Internal • 2013: Anonymous Brazil defaced the website of the Brazilian Air Force (Kovacs 2013). • 2014: Anonymous Brazil’s attack on Brazilian government websites to protest against 2014 FIFA world cup. • 2014: Cyber-attack on Boleto Banca´rio system. • February 2012: A coordinated attack which coincided with quarterly earnings reports victimized most major Brazilian banks (Lincoln 2013).
External • The NSA’s alleged interception of President Rousseff’s private communications. • 2013: Indian hackers defaced Brazilian websites. • The NSA’s alleged industrial espionage on the oil giant Petrobras. • According to the Brazilian television OGlobo, Canadian spy agencies tracked the Brazil’s Mines and Energy Ministry e-mails and phone calls as well as communications to other countries, including the Ecuador-based Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) (Caldwell 2013). • 2012: A cyber espionage campaign targeted high-profile oil companies including those of Brazil according to Dell SecureWork CTU.
malware products in most other parts of the world (e.g., Z
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