Seeking Change, Anti-Lukashenka Hackers Seize Senior Belarusian Officials’ Personal Data
They describe themselves as “apolitical” hackers who want to end Belarus’ “terrorist” regime and ensure equal rights for all. But the actions of Cyberpartisans, a group of Belarusian hackers who claim to have secured access to the passport data of millions of Belarusians, raise questions about how Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s opponents interpret the right to privacy. To prevent officials and other government employees allegedly responsible for flagrant rights abuses against ordinary Belarusians from hiding behind a cloak of anonymity, the Cyberpartisans say they targeted several Belarusian Interior Ministry databases in what they claim is the largest cyberattack in Belarus’ history. Their stated goal is “to disrupt” the work of the security organs and others they see as propping up the 66-year-old Lukashenka’s de facto rule. Their hope is that the seized data, some classified, could lead to a “Moment X,” a wave of rallies that would overthrow the government. While refraining from naming an exact number of files, the hackers claim to have obtained classified passport records for the Belarusian security forces’ leadership, members of Lukashenka’s inner circle, plus State Security Committee (KGB) employees, including intelligence officers operating in the European Union. On July 26, the group’s Telegram channel teased passport data for KGB Chairman Ivan Tertel; Central Election Commission Chairwoman Lidiya Yermoshina; the chairwoman of the upper house of parliament, Natallya Kachanova; and ex-Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who has lived in Belarus since his 2010 overthrow from power. Belarusian passports are used both as a domestic identity document and for external travel.
Each individual’s dossier, the hackers claim, contains passport photos and data; his or her residence permit; the name of the government body or military unit for which the person works; the names of family members, “and so on.” “Will many KGB agents be ready to operate abroad, knowing that data about them has already leaked?” one of the hackers asked rhetorically in a bot-assisted Telegram chat with Current Time. Aside from passport data, the Cyberpartisans claim to have accessed the records of the Belarusian traffic police, which the hackers say include information on registered cars for the KGB, the anti-corruption police, and tsikhary (“silent men”), masked muscle men in plainclothes known for brutally rounding up suspected protesters.
