Belarusian KGB Website Hacked, Employee Information Stolen

Belarusian hackers have compromised the KGB network in their country and gathered information on thousands of employees, according to a SecurityWeek report.

The State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus is an internal security agency that retained the name used in former Soviet Russia. , Now, a group named the Belarusian Cyber-Partisans claims to have compromised the KGB network, accessing a large number of personnel files.

While the authorities have offered no official declaration, the official website of the institution only showed a blank page with the “under construction” text. The Belarusian Cyber-Partisans group is very active and has a coordinator, named Yuliana Shametavets.

Shametavets talked with The Associated Press and revealed what type of information they managed to access.

“The KGB is carrying out the largest political repressions in the history of the country and must answer for it,” said Shametavets. “We work to save the lives of Belarusians, and not to destroy them, like the repressive Belarusian special services do.”

According to Shametavets, the Belarusian KGB network was actually compromised a few years ago, but the website wasn’t. When the group finally hacked into the website, they downloaded personal information on more than 8,600 employees.

Also, just a few weeks ago, the Cyber-Partisans compromised the network of a fertilizer plant named Grodno Azot, although authorities haven’t acknowledged that either.

According to Shametavets, the attack on the KGB’s website was actually in response to an accusation against the hackers that they’ve attacked a nuclear plant, which they claim is false.