Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities has temporarily disabled parts of its digital infrastructure following what it described as a technical problem. The disruption has affected several online services used by citizens, universities, researchers, and businesses for official procedures and submissions. These platforms support important administrative functions and process sensitive information, which is why access was restricted as a precaution.
The ministry oversees national science policy, research programs, innovation initiatives, and higher education administration. Its systems handle high-value data, including academic and research records, application materials, and personal information linked to students and professionals. Because of the incident, multiple digital services were made unavailable, and active procedures were placed on hold to limit any potential risk to data or system integrity.
In a public notice on its official website, the ministry stated that the incident is under technical assessment and did not disclose further details at the time. The announcement clarified that the ministry’s online portal is only partially operational and that ongoing administrative processes have been paused to protect the rights and lawful interests of affected users. To reduce the impact of the outage, authorities confirmed that deadlines for affected procedures will be extended in line with Spain’s administrative law provisions, so applicants and institutions are not penalized for delays caused by the shutdown.
Separately, claims surfaced on underground online platforms from an individual alleging unauthorized access to the ministry’s systems. The person shared what they presented as sample data to support the claim and stated that additional information was available for sale. The material reportedly includes personal records, email information, application-related documents, and images of official paperwork. These claims have not been independently verified, and the online space where the samples were shared later became inaccessible.
The same individual alleged that access was gained by exploiting a security weakness that can allow users to reach restricted resources without proper authorization. Such flaws, when present in web applications, can expose internal systems if not properly secured. At this stage, the technical details of the claim remain unconfirmed by authorities.
Spanish media outlets have reported that a ministry spokesperson acknowledged that the service disruption is linked to a cybersecurity incident. However, officials have not confirmed whether any data was accessed or taken, nor have they outlined the scope of any potential compromise. The ministry has indicated that investigations are ongoing to determine what occurred and to restore services safely.
Cybersecurity experts consistently warn that public sector systems are frequent targets because of the volume and sensitivity of data they manage. Strong access controls, continuous monitoring, and timely security updates are critical to reducing exposure to such risks. Further updates from the ministry are expected once technical assessments are completed and the situation is fully clarified.