Belarus Rail System Hacked to stop Russian Military Buildup – Hactivists Say
Hacker activists on Monday according to Ars Technica by Dan Goodin, infected the country’s state-run railroad system with ransomware and would provide the decryption key only if Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko stopped aiding Russian troops ahead of a possible invasion of Ukraine.
The hacker group responsible, Cyber Partisans wrote on Telegram:
“BelZhD, at the command of the terrorist Lukashenko, these days allows the occupying troops to enter our land. As part of the "Peklo" cyber campaign, we encrypted the bulk of the servers, databases and workstations of the BelZhD in order to slow down and disrupt the operation of the road. The backups have been destroyed.
Dozens of databases have been cyberattacked, including AS-Sledd, AS-USOGDP, SAP, AC-Pred, pass.rw.by, uprava, IRC, etc.
⚠️ Automation and security systems were deliberately NOT affected by a cyber attack in order to avoid emergency situations.”
Also announcing on Twitter:
“We have encryption keys, and we are ready to return Belarusian Railroad's systems to normal mode. Our conditions: Release of the 50 political prisoners who are most in need of medical assistance. Preventing the presence of Russian troops on the territory of #Belarus.”
A tactical advantage for Ukraine as Russians invade, then they released images of the hackers inside the Railroads private networks, following this certain services were down such as online ticket purchasing and scheduling.
Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade, a principal threat researcher at security firm SentinelOne, said he was unable to confirm the ransomware attack but that the images provided appeared to confirm someone gained privileged access to Belarus Railway’s network. “Taking it at face value, it's an interesting turn in the ransomware narrative,” he said in an interview. “Most of the time, we think of ransomware as a financial concern for enterprises and not as a tool for the underdog in what amounts to a revolutionary struggle.”
Politically this is a breathtaking advancement and one Mi-Token takes seriously as political narratives liven during the heated debate of Ukraine and Russia.`