A Belarusian hacker activist group known as the Cyber-Partisans claims to have successfully infiltrated the network of the country’s main KGB security agency. The group accessed the personnel files of over 8,600 employees of the organization, which still goes by its Soviet-era name. The authorities have not provided any comments on the claim, but the website of the Belarusian KGB was found to be opening with an empty page on Friday that mentioned being “in the process of development.” In an attempt to support their claim, the Cyber-Partisans group published a list of the website’s administrators, database, and server logs on their page in the messaging app Telegram.
Group coordinator Yuliana Shametavets, based in New York, stated that the attack on the KGB was in response to the agency’s chief Ivan Tertel accusing the group of plotting attacks on the country’s critical infrastructure, including a nuclear power plant. Shametavets emphasized that the Cyber-Partisans aimed to save the lives of Belarusians and not to harm them, contrasting the repressive actions carried out by the Belarusian special services. She revealed that the group had accessed the KGB’s network several years ago and had been attempting to hack its website and database ever since. After finally succeeding, Cyber-Partisans managed to download the personal files of more than 8,600 KGB employees.
Using the data obtained, the Cyber-Partisans group launched a chat bot on Telegram that allowed Belarusians to identify KGB operatives by uploading their photos. Shametavets emphasized the group’s goal was to demonstrate that in the digital age, it is impossible to conceal information, and the truth about political repressions will ultimately surface, leading to accountability for those who carried them out. The group had previously claimed to have infiltrated computers at the country’s largest fertilizer plant to pressure the government to release political prisoners. The state-run Grodno Azot plant had not commented on the claim, but its website had been unavailable since April 17.
Belarus, a strong ally of Russia, faced mass protests following the 2020 election that saw authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko secure his sixth term amid allegations of fraud. In response to the protests, authorities arrested over 35,000 individuals and brutally beat thousands of them. Many top opposition figures were detained and handed significant prison sentences while others fled the country. Viasna, the country’s oldest and most prominent rights group, reported nearly 1,400 political prisoners in Belarus, including its founder and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.
The Cyber-Partisans have been behind several significant attacks on Belarusian state media over the past four years. In 2022, they reportedly hacked Belarusian Railways multiple times, seizing control over its traffic lights and control system, effectively halting the transit of Russian military equipment into Ukraine via Belarus. Shametavets warned the Belarusian authorities that if they did not cease political repressions, the group would escalate its attacks to intensify the harm to the Lukashenko regime. The group’s actions reflect a broader effort to challenge the government’s oppressive tactics through cyber warfare and activism.
