Hackers say they sabotaged Belarus train network with ransomware

A group of hackers has allegedly shut down rail traffic in Belarus with ransomware. The group wants to slow down the advance of Russian troops towards Ukraine and demands the release of 50 political prisoners.

The Belarusian Cyber-Partisans are showing screenshots of their operation through their Telegram channel. It would show that the group has encrypted Windows 7 systems from Belarusian Railway. It can also be seen that they are formatting a 10TB drive with a backup on it.

According to the group, dozens of databases have been attacked, but automation and security systems have been deliberately kept out of harm’s way, “to prevent emergencies.” It is not clear exactly what the impact of the attack is.

The attackers say they are targeting the train network as Russia uses the track to move troops to Ukraine. The hackers want to stop that advance. They also demand the release of 50 political prisoners who are said to need medical attention.

Last year, the group of hackers carried out multiple attacks against the regime of incumbent President Lukashenko. In addition, the group of hackers would have stolen data from the secret service, camera images from a prison and telephone conversations.

Screenshots of Belarusian Cyber-Partisans