Distributed denial of service

GhostSec Claims Responsibility for Attack on the Decentralized Tax Administration Service of Zulia State (SEDATEZ)

On August 18, 2024, the hacktivist group GhostSec (via the X handle @Wond3rGhost) claimed responsibility for a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack against the Decentralized Tax Administration Service of Zulia State (SEDATEZ). The attack, carried out as part of the #OpVenezuela campaign, reportedly took the organization’s website (sedatez.gob.ve) offline. It is unclear whether any data was compromised or whether the incident caused financial losses.

Overview

Missing evidence

It is unclear whether any data was leaked, the exact duration of the website’s downtime, or whether any material loss occurred as a result of the incident.No independent source names SEDATEZ (a regional tax office in Zulia) as a victim of GhostSec/W0nd3rGhost.An official statement, a report from regional/Zulian media, or an independent source confirming W0nd3rGhost's claim would be needed to verify this.The original X from Wond3rGhost returns a 404.Hackmanac returns a 403 error and reports an actor conflict.Strong independent confirmation is lacking.

Impact details

Wond3rGhost/GhostSec alleges a DDoS attack against SEDATEZ. VenariX echoes the claim in a less-than-convincing manner, while Hackmanac’s source dates back to January 2025 and does not specify either the target or the date. No independent reports of the service disruption, victim statements, or technical telemetry data corresponding to August 18, 2024, have been found.

Classification & severity

Category
Availability
Subtype
Distributed denial of service
Confidence
Low

The available evidence indicates that this was a DDoS attack orchestrated by an actor against the mentioned target. No statement from the victim, no independent report on the service disruption, and no technical telemetry data corresponding to this specific target and date have been found.

Severity assessment

Low
Information impact
None
Affected scope
Organization-wide
Critical service
Potential
Public confidence
Limited

The impact of DDoS attacks targeting specific targets has not been independently confirmed; evidence is limited to an author’s claim or a weak reproduction, in addition to the general context of the campaign.

Timeline

Claim

GhostSec listed the Decentralized Tax Administration Service of Zulia State (SEDATEZ) as an alleged victim.

Evidence & sources

3 sources