Belarusian hackers increasingly acting as proxies for Russia amid war in Ukraine – The Record from Recorded Future News

Belarusian hackers increasingly acting as proxies for Russia amid war in Ukraine  The Record from Recorded Future News

Belarus-linked hackers are increasingly aligning their cyber operations with Russia's interests in Ukraine, researchers said Wednesday. Belarus-linked hackers are increasingly aligning their cyber operations with Russia's interests in Ukraine, the cybersecurity firm ESET said Wednesday. Researchers have observed an "unprecedented operational convergence" between Russian and Belarusian hacking campaigns over the past few months. "We observed increased and more assertive activity from Belarus-aligned threat actors, with their operations increasingly reflecting Russia's intelligence priorities in Ukraine in some areas," researchers said. The most significant development came in late May, when a Belarus-linked hacking group launched a destructive cyberattack against a Ukrainian manufacturing company believed to play an important role in the country's transportation sector.

The attack was attributed to GhostWriter, a threat actor linked to Belarusian intelligence services that has previously conducted cyberespionage and influence operations against Ukraine, Poland and other countries in the region. ESET said it was the first destructive cyberattack by a Belarus-aligned group that its researchers had documented in Europe, marking an escalation from the group's previously observed activities. The hackers used data-wiping malware, which can erase information from compromised systems and disrupt their operations. ESET could not establish whether the malware was intended to cause damage or simply cover the tracks of an espionage operation. Regardless of the hackers' motivation, the attack "sets a precedent" and raises