The websites of several Belarusian ministries have reportedly been taken down in a new attack that is part of Anonymous’ cyber war to help Ukraine. The hacking group has declared that it is targeting the Belarusian government for its complicity in Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
Several Belarusian government sites are taken offline by Anonymous
The websites of Belarusian economic, educational, and legal ministries, as well as the online platform of the country’s National Legal Information Center, were attacked by Anonymous, a Twitter account associated with the distributed hacktivist group announced.
According to a recent post published by Anonymous TV (@YourAnonTV), the attack is in response to Belarus’ involvement in supporting Russia’s ongoing military offensive against Ukraine. A few days ago, the author of this tweet stated that Belarus’ largest government websites were down. Several of them have already been restored.
JUST IN: Massive attack carried by #Anonymous against the Belarusian government for their complicity in the #Ukraine️ invasion. All their biggest government websites are #Offline. #OpRussia #OpBelarus #FreeUkraine pic.twitter.com/b358jRwPu2
— Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 (@YourAnonTV) May 29, 2022
Belarus has not sent its own troops into Ukraine, but has allowed its closest ally, Russia, to use its territory and infrastructure for what Moscow calls a “special military operation” against the government in Kiev. This is the first time that Belarusian government websites have been targeted, but Anonymous has carried out numerous attacks against Russian online resources.
Shortly after Russian troops crossed the Ukrainian border in late February, the hacking group declared cyber war against Russia and vowed to disrupt the country’s Internet space. Since then, it has attacked the websites of the Kremlin, the State Duma, and the Ministry of Defense; attacked Russian television channels; and released millions of leaked emails.
In March, a hacktivist group announced that it had released 28 GB of documents, including parts of the Russian Central Bank’s “secret agreements.”
In early May, the Anonymous-affiliated hacking group Network Battalion 65 (NB65) targeted the payment processing company Qiwi Qiwi, a payment processing company. Later that month, Sberbank, Russia’s largest banking institution, was also hit.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons