Portuguese police and police arrest a hacker suspected of hacking TSE systems | Elections 2020

According to the PF, in São Paulo and Minas Gerais three search and arrest warrants and three precautionary measures were being carried out that prohibited contact between people under investigation, and in Portugal an arrest warrant and a search and arrest warrant.

The investigation initiated by the Federal Police investigates the crimes of invasion of a computer device and criminal association. According to the investigations, a group of Brazilian and Portuguese hackers, led by a Portuguese, was the author of the attack on the TSE system.

According to the PF, the orders carried out in Brazil were authorized by the court of the 1st Electoral Zone of the Federal District, prior representation of the PF and a favorable declaration from the 1st Prosecutor of Electoral Justice.

On the Sunday of the first round of the municipal elections (the 15th), the hackers exposed administrative information of former TSE officials and ministers.

The purpose of the disclosure on the election date would be to discredit the security of the Electoral Justice computer system. But, according to the Federal Police, the invasion did not reach the systems related to the elections because the electronic ballot boxes are not connected to the Internet, so the equipment is not vulnerable to attacks.

“No elements were identified that could have affected the count, security or integrity of the voting results,” the PF reported.

The operation of the PF was called “Exploit”, defined by the PF as “a piece of software, data or a script that takes advantage of a defect to cause accidental or unforeseen behavior in the software or hardware of a computer or any device electronic “.

The initial finding was that the data obtained by the hacker referred to the period from 2001 to 2010. But later, access to data from 2020, such as addresses and telephone numbers, was found in Portal do Server, an administrative system outside the process electoral.

The attack was suspected to have occurred before September 1 because the material did not show information recorded in the TSE files after September 2.

In addition to the disclosure of the data, there was another attempted attack by hackers on the TSE systems on Sunday, which ended up being neutralized. This attack consisted of multiple hits from Brazil, New Zealand and the United States.

The TSE reported that a judicial commission will supervise the PF’s investigations into cyberattacks on the 15th.

The Cybersecurity Commission will be chaired by Minister Alexandre de Moraes.

The group will also prepare studies on actions to prevent and deal with crimes committed by hackers.

The commission also has the participation of the TSE mayor general, Minister Luis Felipe Salomão; the federal delegate Disney Rosseti, special adviser on institutional security of the TSE; two assistant judges from the TSE and a representative from the Information Technology Secretariat (STI) of the TSE.