RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The strengthening of government systems’ digital security should be among the topics addressed by the Brazilian delegation during President Jair Bolsonaro’s trip to Russia.
According to three presidential advisors, the topic is on the President’s team’s agenda, which is seeking a technology transfer agreement to improve the government system’s cybersecurity.
In addition to reinforcing the current operational system, both the GSI (Institutional Security Cabinet) and the Ministry of Defense fear attempted hacker attacks during the electoral dispute.
The concern expressed by the government’s military, is that foreign nations may try to interfere in the election results by accessing sensitive federal government information.
Late last year, government websites suffered hacker attacks, including the hijacking of health information, which was later recovered.
The attack led the ConectSUS, a program that allows citizens to access the National Covid-19 Vaccination Certificate, to be offline for over 10 days. These attacks are still under investigation by the Federal Police.
The federal government also intends to ensure that the levels of fertilizer imports from Russia are not affected by the global shortage of potassium.
According to a Brazilian diplomat, the goal is to try to maintain imports at normal levels, preventing this year’s agricultural crop from being affected by a shortage of the product.