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Colombia's Ecopetrol says cyberattack stole data tied to 3,300 accounts

Channelnewsasia • July 18, 2026

July 17 : Colombian state-controlled energy company Ecopetrol said on Friday a cyberattack resulted in the theft of data tied to 3,300 user accounts and that it could not "guarantee" the breach would not have a "material adverse" financial impact.

The company, however, said it had not identified any critical disruption to its operations, production capacity or any direct financial impact as of Friday, and that no stolen data had yet been disclosed by the hacker.

Ecopetrol is one of Latin America's largest energy producers and Colombia's largest company, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the country's hydrocarbon production.

Ecopetrol said the hacker had not been identified but had communicated extortion demands to the company and threatened to publicly disclose the hacked information.

The data breach affected cloud-based file storage environments of 15 subsidiaries, including Ecopetrol itself, the energy firm said, adding that it was able to prevent an attempted ransomware attack.

The company said it was continuing to assess potential exposure, which could include confidential, proprietary or personal data, and warned the incident could have a material adverse effect on its business, reputation, operating results or financial condition.

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This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Ecopetrol Cyberattack: Data Breach Affects 3,300 User Accounts On July 17, 2026, Ecopetrol, Colombia's state-controlled energy company, reported a cyberattack involving unauthorized access to cloud-based file storage. The breach affected approximately 15 subsidiaries and resulted in the unlawful download of data linked to 3,300 user accounts. An unidentified external actor attempted a ransomware attack and issued extortion demands threatening to disclose the stolen information. Ecopetrol activated its incident response protocols, blocking unauthorized access and enhancing monitoring. As of the latest reports, the company has not identified any critical disruptions to operations or direct financial impacts, but it cannot guarantee that the incident will not adversely affect its business or reputation. The company is cooperating with national authorities and insurers to manage the fallout from this incident. 19 sources 55

Extracted Entities

Colombia's Ecopetrol says cyberattack stole data tied to 3,300 accounts

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Extracted Entities

Attack Types (2)

Companies (1)

Countries (1)

Industries (1)

MITRE ATT&CK (1)