Big data in the hands of cartels: cyber earthquake threatens Latin America

The danger posed by criminal cartels and drug gangs in Latin America does not seem to have limits or be confined to one specific area. Security investigations and judicial research reveal that organized crime groups have penetrated commercial databases and the network of secret camera images in most major streets of Latin American capitals.

Latin American security and judicial sources intersect with strategic analytical reports in warning that organized crime networks and cross-border gangs are now skillfully using these advanced tools to serve their criminal plans.

Elimination of witnesses and security personnel
Security and intelligence reports indicate that cartels are employing this massive data to eliminate witnesses and target police, military, and intelligence officers in Latin American countries.

The same authorities consider that the technical and financial barriers that previously prevented irregular criminal entities from accessing surveillance tools have completely collapsed. Major drug gangs and criminal networks can now benefit from a global digital environment.

This environment is teeming with smart camera images, exposed video clips on the internet, and geolocation data available for sale, reshaping the map of global security threats. Comprehensive surveillance technology and digital data have surpassed the stage of being monopolized by great powers or even official state agencies and traditional intelligence services.

Dual breach
Latin American security authorities are sounding the alarm regarding these dangerous digital threats, confirming that cartel penetration of Big Data bases is an ongoing reality whose repercussions will inevitably appear soon.

According to informed official sources, this dual breach relies on two main fronts. The first involves commercial data and travel records, where cartels can exploit commercially available databases, including digital browsing data, social media ads, travel logs, and traffic movements. These raw pieces of information provide deep procedural and field understanding of individuals' movements and lifestyle patterns.

The second front manifests in urban surveillance infrastructures, specifically the possibility of hacking or exploiting "urban surveillance cameras" located on main streets and license plate recognition systems belonging to local authorities in some states with weak and fragile security.

At the intersection of the first and second fronts, it can be said that Latin American criminal groups now possess intelligence capabilities parallel to those of state agencies.

In its reading of the risks of this shift, prestigious American research centers specializing in Latin American security affairs, such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), believe that the dangers of this transformation are not limited to the theoretical cyber aspect but may translate into bloody violence and direct threats to institutional stability.

According to previous audit reports by the US Department of Justice and certain investigative inquiries, criminal networks in Latin America have managed to penetrate official security systems. They have also succeeded in precisely tracking judges, security officials, and opposition political, party, and parliamentary elites by integrating geographic databases with city cameras.

This digital armament, consisting of periodic and increasing technical surveillance, grants cartels superior ability to blackmail and pre-emptively infiltrate by creating precise profiles of targeted figures, including determining their movements and the possibility of easily and accurately "removing them" from the public scene.

It also allows paralyzing the capabilities of the security and military institutions through the use of drones and advanced tracking technologies to monitor border guard patrols and security agencies, following their response times in the field.

Absence of Latin American governments
According to informed security readings, the current situation becomes more dangerous and aggravated due to the slow handling by government and legislative institutions in Latin America of these threats stemming from the unregulated commercial data market, and the lack of regulatory frameworks to protect privacy and prevent the leakage of sensitive technology.

Added to all the above is the lag of many Latin American capitals in catching up with the requirement of digitizing administration and building a digital security institution dedicated to preventing the expansion and dominance of cartel threats via the cyber gateway.

There are existing alliance relationships between these criminal groups and armed militias in the Middle East seeking to target American and Israeli interests in the Latin American region, and to build alternative logistical, military, and material infrastructure for their major losses in Lebanon and Syria. Thus, the danger is real and extends beyond the borders of Latin America.

In conclusion, observers of Latin American security affairs conclude that this new reality imposes a different reading of concepts of local, regional, and international security, as the true threat now lies in the ability of rogue entities and criminal gangs to possess massive digital bases.

This necessitates formulating urgent policies to restrict the flow of commercial data and close sensitive cyber gaps before these technologies become a digital substitute for the state itself within the areas of influence of those groups.