Colombia deploys special cybersecurity plan ahead of presidential elections
Ensuring technological stability during Colombia’s presidential elections on Sunday, May 31, 2026 –the first round of voting– has become one of the Colombian government’s top priorities. Responsibility for the operation lies with the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies, which is overseeing the technical and operational preparations for election day.
El Tiempo, one of the country’s most established newspapers, has warned that cybercriminals are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) “to make their traps more sophisticated and deceive citizens on a massive scale.” In response, both the newspaper and the Colombian government have published special guidelines to help citizens avoid identity theft and online manipulation.
The concern is far from minor. Colombia faces more than 3,000 cyberattacks every week, making it the third most targeted country in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico. During the legislative elections held last March, authorities reportedly blocked approximately 5.2 million cyberattack attempts and malicious IP addresses seeking to impersonate official websites and disrupt the electoral process.
Cybercrime behind 70% of offenses
Following those legislative elections, President Gustavo Petro and several Colombian political groups denounced nearly 50,000 alterations and inconsistencies in vote-counting forms. Around 1,000 citizen complaints related to alleged electoral crimes were also filed.
According to the Colombian government, the elections were marked by “massive cyberattack attempts neutralized by the National Registry Office,” along with reports of irregularities and possible alterations in thousands of electoral tally forms. Detected anomalies included crossed-out entries, amendments and figures that did not match preliminary results. The situation led to cash seizures and the arrest of several candidates.
According to El Tiempo, today’s main technological challenges include the use of AI by cybercriminals, the constant rise of phishing attacks and the need for accelerated modernization. Phishing –a tactic used to trick victims into revealing sensitive information such as passwords or banking data– remains responsible for around 70% of cybercrime despite awareness campaigns and technological advances. Semana, another influential Colombian outlet, argues that AI is accelerating cybercrime and enabling criminals to automate attacks while also developing new social engineering techniques.
Unified Cyber Electoral Command Center and Communications Control Board
As part of the so-called National Electoral Guarantees Plan, the Colombian government has established two key mechanisms. The first is the “Unified Cyber Electoral Command Center,” coordinated by the Cyber Emergency Response Team and designed under a proactive defense approach to protect the technological infrastructure linked to the electoral process. The system provides permanent technical monitoring, specialized analysis and interagency coordination to identify and mitigate risks such as impersonation campaigns, intrusion attempts and other digital threats that could affect the availability and integrity of electoral platforms.
The second mechanism is the “Communications Control Board,” a real-time coordination structure involving the Ministry, the National Civil Registry and Telecommunications Network and Service Providers (PRST).
During this second nationwide electoral process of the year, authorities will deploy biometric systems, automation tools and new digital applications aimed at strengthening transparency, speeding up results and ensuring security throughout the presidential vote.
Protection of the electoral process against cyberattacks and disinformation relies on source-code auditing systems, digitalization of tally sheets, decentralized platforms and cybersecurity monitoring. The technological protection framework is based on five pillars: source-code auditing and transparency; decentralized systems and blockchain; cybersecurity across the digital ecosystem; electoral observation platforms; and protection against disinformation and AI-related risks.
Despite these measures, President Gustavo Petro appears concerned about potential electoral fraud and has called on citizens to mobilize in order to “protect the vote and its transparency.” The presidential candidates are Iván Cepeda, representing the ruling coalition, alongside Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia, figures from the right-wing opposition. A runoff election is considered likely.
The tightening of security measures also responds to the presence of illegal armed groups in roughly 386 municipalities, a situation that continues to undermine democratic guarantees. In addition, the electoral campaign has been marked by recent bomb attacks and the assassinations of political leaders.
Meanwhile, the National Registry Office has asked the government to reinforce public security forces, while international organizations and electoral observation missions have issued security warnings. As researcher Tatiana Andrea Niño Martínez notes in her study “Crisis de seguridad en Colombia” (“Security Crisis in Colombia”), the 2026 elections are unfolding in a political and electoral context in which security has become one of the country’s main political demands.