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BYPOL also has access to cyber-guerrilla materials that help them conduct investigations into the regime, which are then posted on BYPOL’s own Telegram channel. These investigations were popular and successful, and one of their documentaries was cited during the US Congressional hearing on Belarus, which took place shortly before the US imposed sanctions on Lukashenka and his allies.

The hackers say their latest series of attacks gave them access to drone footage of the crackdown on protests, the Interior Ministry’s mobile phone tracking database, passport databases, cars, and more. They also say they got access to emergency services audio recordings and video feeds from surveillance and speed control cameras, as well as from the isolation wards where the detainees are held.

The guerrillas say they intend to undermine the regime at all levels. “We have a strategic plan that includes cyberattacks to paralyze as many of the regime’s security forces as possible, sabotage the regime’s infrastructure weaknesses, and protect protesters,” the spokesman said.

“The hacking is important because it shows that the regime is not as unstoppable and invincible as it plans,” says Artem Shraibman, a political analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. “This shows the weakness of their system. This encourages the protesters. Many protesters greeted these leaks with joy and a sense of victory. “

The hacks were previously reported by Current Time and Bloomberg.

“We don’t have professional hackers”

Cyber ​​guerrillas say they are not criminal hackers, but employees of the technology sector who can no longer stand aside. A spokesperson for the group says four people are doing “real ethical hacking,” while the rest provide support, analysis and data processing.

“We don’t have professional hackers,” they told MIT Technology Review. “We are all IT pros and some cybersecurity professionals who have learned on the go.”

Pavel Slunkin, who was a Belarusian diplomat until last year and now works with the European Council on Foreign Relations, says the guerrillas reflect the importance of the technology industry to the country.

“Belarusian technology people not only want economic influence, but also want to turn it into political influence,” he says. “These people have houses, cars and all that, except that they cannot choose their future. But now they decided they could get involved in political life. They played a very important, if not the most important role in what happened in Belarus in 2020 ”.

On the eve of last year’s election campaign, opposition candidate Sergei Tikhanovsky hired a number of technical experts. He was arrested two days after the public announcement of his candidacy, and his wife Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya took his place as Lukashenko’s main opponent.

“When Tikhanovsky was imprisoned, the protest movement felt destroyed,” says Slunkin. “It was the starting point for people who tried to resist the regime not on the streets, but instead where they felt stronger and safer than the government.”

“As all-encompassing hacker imaginable as possible.”

Lukashenko’s iron grip on media and information within Belarus has forced political opponents to switch to apps like Telegram, which are more difficult to block or regulate. The hacker Telegram channel has over 77,000 subscribers.

Their latest publications include a recording of a conversation between two high-ranking Belarusian police officers on August 8, 2020, the day before the presidential election. On the tape, the deputy chief of the Minsk police and his subordinate discuss “preventive” arrests of protesters and key political opponents. These include employees working for Tsikhanovskaya.