Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Cybercrime

Belarus Brands Group Who Claimed to Hack Interior Ministry ‘Extremist’

A court in Belarus declared Wednesday a group of hackers who claim to have carried out a massive hack on the interior ministry in an attack on President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime to be an “extremist” organisation.

A court in Belarus declared Wednesday a group of hackers who claim to have carried out a massive hack on the interior ministry in an attack on President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime to be an “extremist” organisation.

The extremist designation effectively bans the so-called Kiber Partizany — or Cyber Partisans — and increases the criminal penalties that its members and supporters face if caught.

Last month the so-called Kiber Partizany — or Cyber Partisans — announced on Telegram that they had conducted “the largest cyberattack in the history of the Republic of Belarus” in what they called “Operation Heatwave”.

Since then the group has published what it claims to be audio recordings of interior ministry officials ordering violence against anti-Lukashenko protesters on its Telegram channels almost every day.

It has also published a map locating law enforcement officials that they claim took part in the crackdown, along with their personal data.

Since last August, Lukashenko has waged a wide-ranging crackdown after historic protests erupted against his nearly three-decade rule when he claimed victory in an election widely seen as rigged.

“The terrorist regime continues repressions; pogroms of civil society and independent media are taking place. Our response is a blow to the punitive system,” the Cyber Partisans wrote on Telegram.

Most independent media in Belarus have been designated as extremist organisation, blocking their operations.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

– ‘The operation continues’ –

The interior ministry said Wednesday two of the Cyber Partisan’s Telegram channels were also designated as extremist.

It said the social media accounts were “discrediting law enforcement officers and representatives of government bodies” and “inciting social enmity.”

The designation of the channels as extremist means that republishing any material from them can result in a fine or arrest, said the interior ministry.

In emailed comments to AFP last week, the Cyber Partisans said they had already hacked more than 5 terabytes of data mainly from the interior ministry “but not only”, saying that “the operation continues”.

They also claimed to have taken offline cameras used by the interior ministry and the KGB security services.

“Operation Heatwave is part of a general plan to free the Belarusian people from tyranny,” they said.

The interior ministry has not confirmed whether it was indeed hacked. The ministry, the Investigative Committee — which probes major crimes in Belarus — and the general prosecutor’s office have not responded to AFP’s repeated requests for comment.

Last year, when the Cyber Partisans published private information about interior ministry officials they claimed to have hacked, the ministry’s spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova confirmed the leak.

After the group was branded as extremist on Wednesday, the hackers sent AFP on Telegram a trophy emoji.

“Undoubtedly this is a sign of the quality of our work,” they wrote.

Related: Belarusian Nationals Arrested for Hacking ATMs Across Europe

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cybercrime

The changing nature of what we still generally call ransomware will continue through 2023, driven by three primary conditions.

Cybercrime

A recently disclosed vBulletin vulnerability, which had a zero-day status for roughly two days last week, was exploited in a hacker attack targeting the...

Cybercrime

As it evolves, web3 will contain and increase all the security issues of web2 – and perhaps add a few more.

Cybercrime

Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group informed some customers last week that their online accounts had been breached by hackers.

Cybercrime

Zendesk is informing customers about a data breach that started with an SMS phishing campaign targeting the company’s employees.

Cybercrime

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft calls attention to a series of zero-day remote code execution attacks hitting its Office productivity suite.

Artificial Intelligence

The release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022 has demonstrated the potential of AI for both good and bad.

Cybercrime

Satellite TV giant Dish Network confirmed that a recent outage was the result of a cyberattack and admitted that data was stolen.