Hackers release data trove from Belarus in bid to overthrow Lukashenko regime
Opponents of the Belarus government said they have pulled off an audacious hack that has compromised dozens of police and interior ministry databases as part of a broad effort to overthrow President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.
The Belarusian Cyber Partisans, as the hackers call themselves, have in recent weeks released portions of a huge data trove they say includes some of the country’s most secret police and government databases. The information contains lists of alleged police informants, personal information about top government officials and spies, video footage gathered from police drones and detention centers, and secret recordings of phone calls from a government wiretapping system, according to interviews with the hackers and documents reviewed by Bloomberg News.
Among the pilfered documents are personal details about Mr. Lukashenko’s inner circle and intelligence officers. In addition, obtained mortality statistics indicate thousands more people in Belarus died from COVID-19 than the government has publicly acknowledged, the documents suggest.
In an interview and on social media, the hackers said they also sabotaged more than 240 surveillance cameras in Belarus and are preparing to shut down government computers with malicious software named X-App.
Belarus’ interior ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment. On July 30, the head of the country’s KGB security agency, Ivan Tertel, said in a speech aired on state television there had been “hacker attacks on personal data” and a “systematic collection of information,” which he blamed on the work of “foreign special services,” according to local news website Zerkalo.io.
While the immediate impact of the hack isn’t entirely clear, experts said the longterm consequences could be significant, from undermining government proclamations to bolstering international efforts to sanction or prosecute Mr. Lukashenko and his subordinates. “If ever Lukashenko ends up facing prosecution in the International Criminal Court, for example, these records are going to be incredibly important,” said Tanya Lokot, an associate professor at Dublin City University who specializes in protest and digital rights issues in Eastern Europe.
Nikolai Kvantaliani, a Belarusian digital security expert, said the data exposed by the Cyber Partisans showed “officials knew they were targeting innocent people and used extra force with no reason.” As a result, he said, “more people are starting to not believe in propaganda” from state media outlets, which suppressed images of police violence during antigovernment demonstrations last year.
The hackers have teamed up with a group named BYPOL, created by former Belarusian police officers who defected after the disputed election of Mr. Lukashenko last year. Mass demonstrations followed the election, and some police officers were accused of torturing and beating hundreds of citizens in a brutal crackdown.
Aliaksandr Azarau, a former police lieutenant colonel in Belarus who headed an organized crime and corruption unit, said he quit his job last year after witnessing election fraud and police violence. He moved to Poland and joined BYPOL, which he said had been working with the Cyber Partisans since around late last year. Mr. Azarau said the information the hackers released is authentic and BYPOL plans to use it to hold corrupt police and government officials accountable.
The wiretapped phone recordings obtained by the hackers revealed Belarus’ interior ministry was spying on a wide range of people, including police officers and officials working with the prosecutor general, Mr. Azarau said. The recordings also offer evidence of police commanders ordering violence against protesters, he said.
“We are cooperating closely with the Cyber Partisans. The information from them is very important for us,” Mr. Azarau said. “They hacked most of the main police database, and they downloaded all information, including information from the security service wiretapping department, the most secret department of our police.”