Cyberattack On Belarus To Stop Russian Buildup Near Ukraine
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent - Follow -
Date Published: January 25, 2022 08:30PM UTC
Last Modified: January 25, 2022 08:30PM UTC
BELARUS - There has reportedly been a cyber attack on the Belarus railway system by hacktivists who say they hacked the rail system to stop the Russian military buildup near the Ukrainian borders.
Hacktivists located in Belarus stated on Monday that they infected the Belarus state-run railroad system with ransomware. They stated that they would only be giving the decryption key if the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko stops giving aid to Russian troops.
A group calling itself Cyber Partisans wrote a message on Telegram stating "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." they added.
Their Twitter account also posted a message saying "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.
"At the command of the terrorist Lukashenka, #Belarusian Railway allows the occupying troops to enter our land. We encrypted some of BR's servers, databases and workstations to disrupt its operations.❗️Automation and security systems were NOT affected to avoid emergency situations" the group added.
A representative of the group said that "The major goal is to overthrow Lukashenko’s regime, keep the sovereignty and build a democratic state with the rule of law, independent institutions and protection of human rights".
The railway was likely targeted because Russia has been using the railroad in Belarus to ship Russian troops and military equipment into the country for what they call 'war games' but many believe Russia may be using Belarus to stage an attack on Ukraine due to the fact that Belarus shares a border with Ukraine.
According to reports, Russia has shipped over 33 military trains of troops and military equipment into Belarus for 'strategic exercises' in the country.
