MEXICO CITY, Sept 30 (Reuters) – The Mexican government said on Friday it had been hit by a massive hack of data held by the military. It included details about the heart condition of President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was hospitalized in January.

At a regular press conference, the president said the information released to local media overnight from the Defense Department hack was genuine and confirmed the revelations about his own health problems.

“There was indeed a cyber hack,” he said, noting that the hackers exploited changes in the military’s IT systems.

According to media reports, the hack accessed 6 terabytes of Defense Department data. This included information on criminals, transcripts of communications, and surveillance of US Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar.

The U.S. Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The hack follows a government revelation on Thursday that a military helicopter crash in July that killed 14 people was caused by a plane running out of fuel.

Javier Oliva, a political scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said the leaks showed “very serious evidence of vulnerability”, especially at a time when the military’s role in Mexico was hotly debated.

The hack also revealed that Lopez Obrador, 68, was diagnosed with angina pectoris and had 10 medical consultations in early January.

Lopez Obrador, who suffered a heart attack in 2013, was rushed to hospital in January as he was at risk of another heart attack. Lopez Obrador also said he takes medication and exercises to help with high blood pressure.

“I’ve had a cocktail of[medicine]that I used to drink at night due to various ailments, but I’m fine,” he said.

The hack was carried out by a group identified in local media as “guacamayas” or “macaws” in Spanish.

Lopez Obrador, an avid supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, said the group was likely of foreign origin.

According to the leaked database Distributed Denial of Secrets, Guacamaya has carried out a series of hacks targeting security forces in Latin America, claiming responsibility for hacks in Peru, El Salvador, Chile and Colombia.

A statement from Guacamaya shared on the platform accused the region’s military of committing criminal violence and supporting “captive companies from the Global North.”

Carlos Loretto, a Mexican journalist and prominent government critic who first reported details of the leak, said the ministry’s data show how much power the military gained under López Obrador. Said. Customs.

Lawmakers this month approved a law expanding the military’s powers to fight crime, ignoring allegations of abuses by the military and concerns that the government is militarizing security.

Reported by Sarah Morland.Editing by Dave Graham, Mark Porter, Chris Reese, Leslie Adler

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