Aug 11, 2021 19:00:00

Even passport photos and home addresses where dissident hackers in Belarus, a dictatorship, steal the personal information of millions of people, including supporters of the administration

In Belarus , located in Eastern Europe, there is a severe crackdown on dissidents by President Alexander Lukashenko, who is known as 'the last dictator in Europe'. In August 2021, athletics representative Kristina Chimanouskaya, who came to Japan at the Tokyo Olympics, posted dissatisfaction within the team on Instagram and was ordered to return home forcibly, causing asylum in Poland due to personal danger. .. In Belarus, a dissident hacker group called 'Cyberpartisans' broke into the Belarusian Ministry of Interior's database and 'obtained the personal information of millions of people, including senior government officials and supporters of the administration.' It has been reported.

Seeking Change, Anti-Lukashenka Hackers Seize Senior Belarusian Officials' Personal Data
https://en.currenttime.tv/a/seeking-change-anti-lukashenka-hackers-seize-senior-belarusian-officials-personal-data-/31392092.html

Cyberpartizan was exiled to Belarus on July 26, 2021, on his Telegram channel, Ivan Tertel, President of the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB), Lidiya Yermoshina, President of the Central Election Commission, Natallya Kachanova, President of the Senate. The passport photos of President Kurmanbek Bakiev and others of President Kyrgyz have been released. Belarusian passports are used not only when traveling abroad, but also as identification in Japan.

Passport data is stored in the Belarusian Ministry of Interior's database, and Cyberpartizan has launched 'the largest cyber attack in Belarus' history' with the passport photos, addresses and affiliations of millions of people, including senior government officials and supporters of the administration. He said he stole data such as government and military information and family names. The attack was aimed at preventing officials from maintaining anonymity while the administration violated serious rights against Belarusian civilians.

One of the hackers told the overseas media Current Time that there is data about the KGB agent in the hands of the cyber partisan, 'Even though many KGB agents know that their data has been leaked, they are overseas. Can you work in? ' The hack also revealed the address of the KGB agent, claiming that the agent would have to move.

Apart from the passport data, Cyber Partisan also accessed Belarusian traffic police records to obtain data on the KGB and the vehicles used by the police. 'At least they all need to change their mode of transportation, but more importantly, agents recognize that data breaches like this one can be repeated,' the hacker told Current Time. I did.

Current Time gave the names and dates of birth of two Belarusian collaborators who agreed to disclose the information to see if Cyber Partisans really succeeded in stealing the data, and what information was available. I was told.

After a few minutes of searching the database, Cyber Partisan reported photos and addresses of the two passports, work, and information about their parents. A collaborator who agreed to disclose the information said that the passport photo had never been released online since it was taken a few years ago. In addition to the mere documentary data, the hacker also knew that one person had no space to put a visa on his passport as a result of repeated overseas trips.

Since cyber partisans stole data directly from the Interior Ministry's database, they also obtained data from high-ranking government officials and people unrelated to security forces. However, in a Current Time interview, he vowed not to touch data on Belarusians who are not working for the government, saying, 'We understand data security. All stolen data is on a server isolated from the Internet. Is stored in an encrypted format. '

Nikolai Kvantaliani, a Belarusian data security expert and employee of the Eastern Alliance Partnership Civil Society Forum , a platform that promotes democratic reforms in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, said the hack was in Belarus. There is no doubt that it will affect the security forces in Ukraine. 'All of this can be a factor in curbing continued violence against the Belarusian people,' he said.

Andriy Baranovych, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Cyber Alliance , a Ukrainian cyber activist community, said, 'Espionage and KGB employees with special statements indicating their affiliation in their passports are at complete risk. Activists and partisans have obtained the data rather than a special service. Now the people behind the Lukaschenko administration will not feel safe, 'commented Current Time.

Belarusian authorities and the companies that built the KGB and Interior Ministry passport databases did not comment on Current Time inquiries regarding cyberattacks. However, on July 30, Belarus's state-run TV channel told the relevant departments, KGB Director Tertel, that destructive forces related to 'special foreign institutions' had personal information about leaders, security forces, and government agencies. He reported that he advised that he was using IT to acquire.

Belarusian dissidents are protesting that the move to disclose personal information of government officials is a fraudulent election after President Lukashenko declared his sixth election in the presidential election held in August 2020. It started as the activity took place. In August 2021, the personal information of two men who allegedly took Chimanous Kaya who wished to asylum to Haneda Airport was disclosed.

On the other hand, in July in the Telegram channel of the parent government faction, 'a list of entrepreneurs who negotiated with the government of Latvia and Lithuania government in order to transfer the business from Belarus to another country' is open to the public . The list also includes information about entrepreneurial families, and the 18 targeted entrepreneurs consider this a tactic of Belarusian authorities.

This time, the data acquired by cyber partisans includes those of the general public who are not related to the administration, so Baranovych pointed out that if the data leaks from cyber partisans, the general public will suffer. 'Given that cyber partisans have clear goals, we trust them for now,' said Kvantaliani, who said cyberpartisans need to be treated with caution. rice field.