Situación Nacional de Ciberseguridad - Junio 2026 - Paraguay

Threats and active campaigns in Paraguay

Ransomware and extortion in Paraguay

Ransomware was the dominant threat in June. The documented cases show the classic pattern of encryption, operational disruption, and possible financial pressure to regain access. In private medicine, the impact was clear on core business and care systems. The coverage also mentions, conditionally, that the attackers would be demanding a sum of money, but the sources do not confirm amounts or the outcome of that demand.

The most important risk signal is that ransomware is no longer limited to large companies or state critical infrastructure. ABC Color noted that Paraguayan micro, small, and medium-sized businesses are frequent targets because of limited resources and the combination of phishing, outdated systems, and weaker control maturity. In other words, the exposed ecosystem is broad, and the health sector case shows that the entry cost for attackers can translate into high operational impact.

Fraud and phishing in Paraguay

The material available for June includes four cases linked to fraud or phishing within the monthly indicator set, although the narrative detail for the period was much more concentrated on ransomware and regulation. The only strong qualitative clue comes from ABC Color's analysis, which identifies credential theft through phishing as one of the main risks for Paraguayan companies. That observation fits a familiar regional pattern, where deceiving users remains an efficient and low-cost entry point for attackers.

APT and hacktivism in Paraguay

There were not enough verifiable events in the material provided to support an APT or hacktivist campaign of its own during the month. The evidence accumulated in June is concentrated in ransomware incidents, vulnerability alerts, and regulatory changes.

Critical vulnerabilities with impact in Paraguay

Paraguay’s critical vulnerability signal was marked by two explicit high-severity references. CERT Paraguay published an advisory on a critical vulnerability in 7-Zip products, and ConectateSeguro.gov.py also issued an alert about a critical vulnerability in Microsoft Malware Protection Engine, a Microsoft Defender component. In both cases, the available material confirms the warning, but does not document active exploitation in the country at the time of publication.

Beyond the CVE references in Cato Networks’ guide, the operationally relevant point is that June showed an exposure environment where real ransomware campaigns and critical software alerts coexisted. That combination puts patch management, exposed-surface review, and monitoring of widely deployed products at the top of the list.

Regulation and compliance in Paraguay

June was a particularly active month for Paraguay’s digital regulatory agenda. MITIC said the country is moving forward with rules on personal data protection and artificial intelligence as part of its digital transformation. That statement placed the issue at the institutional level and showed that the discussion is no longer limited to isolated drafts.

In the Senate, the AI debate added concrete proposals. Ignacio Iramain laid out five legislative pillars, including risk-based regulation, a ban on indiscriminate biometric surveillance, the right to know and challenge AI-assisted decisions, the creation of a public registry of AI systems, and protection of digital sovereignty. In the same session, Lizarella Valiente backed AI regulation and called for the Personal Data Protection Law to be implemented. That political convergence reinforces the sense that a legislative window is open for digital governance issues.

The Chamber of Deputies also moved ahead on electoral propaganda on social networks and digital platforms. The bill includes restrictions on the use of segmentation or microtargeting based on ideological profiles or political affiliations obtained without consent, as well as a Mandatory Registry of Accounts for political advertising and rules on deepfakes and AI-generated materials. It also extends electoral silence to paid online advertising during the 48 hours before elections and sets a vacatio legis through 2032.

The regulatory picture does not end there. DPL News reported on June 30 that Paraguay signed in Washington the Joint Declaration on Opportunities in Artificial Intelligence, with a focus on regulatory frameworks oriented toward innovation, critical infrastructure strengthening, and international cooperation. The broader signal is that the country is trying to build infrastructure, rules, and international positioning at the same time. For compliance teams, that means the coming months could bring more concrete definitions on data, AI, and digital advertising.

Most affected sectors in Paraguay

Private healthcare was the hardest-hit sector this month, with direct evidence of ransomware and operational degradation in sanatoriums and private medical companies. The disruption was not limited to a single institution, but extended to a group of organizations linked by operations and services. That points to a sector-wide impact rather than an isolated event with no follow-through.

The second visible exposure group was MSMEs and businesses in general, not because they appeared as specific victims in the material, but because the local press described them as preferred targets. The detail matters for Paraguay because it points to a broad base of organizations with less capacity to absorb security costs. Phishing, stolen credentials and ransomware remain persistent risks there.

There was also institutional and regulatory activity in the public, legislative and electoral sectors. Although these are not compromised incidents, they are areas with heavy digital dependence and clear implications for compliance, transparency and data management. The discussion around election propaganda on social media, for example, introduces direct requirements for traceability, consent and the use of AI in campaigns.

Trends and signals to watch in Paraguay

No comparable baseline is available, because this is the first archived period with this indicator format for Paraguay. For that reason, it is not appropriate to invent a trend versus the previous month. The reading should focus on the June snapshot and the signals it leaves for the next cycle.

First, watch whether the private health case becomes a precedent for a broader wave or remains an isolated, high-impact incident. The mix of manual systems, data encryption, and possible economic pressure suggests the sector could stay under scrutiny. If new disclosures emerge, it will be necessary to check whether they share the same vector, affected group, or common infrastructure.

Second, watch how the regulatory agenda translates into concrete measures. Paraguay showed simultaneous progress on personal data, AI, and digital advertising. The operational question is not only which laws are approved, but how they are implemented, which authority oversees them, and what real obligations remain for companies, political parties, platforms, and public agencies.

Third, watch the gap between digitization and controls. Última Hora and ABC Color agreed, from different angles, that Paraguayan companies need response plans, continuity plans, and training. In a context where ransomware has already caused visible disruptions, that gap is no longer a general warning, it is a direct operational risk.

Security recommendations for teams in Paraguay

June’s recommendations are not about inventing new controls, but about closing gaps that were already exposed during the month. First, organizations that depend heavily on availability, such as health care, should test manual operations and prioritized recovery scenarios. A continuity plan that has not been tested under real outages is not enough for an encryption incident.

Second, teams should strengthen multifactor authentication, credential management, and endpoint protection. ABC Color described those measures as low-cost, high-impact steps for small and midsize businesses, and they remain valid for larger companies as well. When the initial vector is phishing or credential abuse, privilege reduction and password managers stop being cosmetic recommendations.

Third, incident response should be formalized with evidence preservation and chain of custody. Última Hora was explicit in warning that shutting down systems or deleting information can destroy digital evidence. For internal teams and vendors, that means the first move in an incident should be to contain, document, and escalate, not improvise.

Fourth, vulnerability management needs to focus on widely deployed products. In June, there were critical alerts about 7-Zip and Microsoft Defender, along with references to other products in CERT Paraguay indexes. The combination of widely used software and official warnings makes it essential to review exposure, prioritization, and patching timelines.

Material limitations

This report was prepared exclusively from the material provided, with no internet access or additional external verification. For that reason, some statements are necessarily limited to what the cited sources published, and no unconfirmed technical details are inferred.

In the case of the ransomware incident involving private medical services, the sources reviewed do not identify an actor, do not publicly confirm an extortion group, and do not detail the outcome of any possible negotiation. IoCs, hashes, or domains related to the incident are also not documented, so no technical appendix of indicators of compromise is included.

The month-over-month comparison metric cannot be built because the available file indicates that this is the first archived period with this indicator format for Paraguay. Accordingly, the trends section is based only on the June snapshot and on the qualitative reading of the verified facts.

Consolidated thematic source table

June closes with operational strain in Paraguay

June left a clear signal for Paraguay. The month was dominated by incidents, with ransomware as the main threat, while the state pushed regulatory discussions forward and businesses were forced to review continuity, patching, and response. In the material analyzed, there is no sign of a slowdown in risk; instead, the month exposed where the most costly weaknesses are and which decisions will weigh on the rest of the year.