Belarusian Cyber Partisans and Silent Crow Hack Rosstat, Stealing 23 TB of Sensitive Data

Major Cyberattack Breaches Russian Federal Statistics Service

According to Рубрика — Суспільство: The Belarusian hacker collective known as the Cyber Partisans, in collaboration with the Silent Crow group, have successfully infiltrated the internal IT systems of Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). This breach exposed a staggering 23 terabytes of confidential data, including internal documents and extensive databases containing critical information.

According to the hackers, Silent Crow gained unauthorized access to several key segments of Rosstat’s infrastructure, including:

• Rosstat's central headquarters,
• regional branches across Russia,
• and the Main Interregional Center responsible for processing and distributing statistical data.

The attackers reportedly took control of approximately 25,000 computers, highlighting the breadth and scale of this cyber operation.

The stolen materials reportedly contain sensitive details about Russia’s military casualties in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. Representatives of Silent Crow emphasized that

"the bulk of the breach consists of databases, internal documents, official information, and data from employees’ workstations. This incident goes far beyond compromising isolated servers or user accounts; it represents a deep intrusion into a federal agency’s infrastructure, with access spanning central and regional systems, internal networks, and data repositories of significant state and operational value."

Implications of the Cyber Breach

This incident underscores the growing cyber threat landscape in the region. Notably, Ukraine ranks among the top three countries worldwide facing the highest volume of cyberattacks, according to Microsoft’s reports.

The Rosstat hack deals a significant blow to Russia’s information security, exposing vulnerabilities within government institutions. Given that the compromised data includes military intelligence, the breach could have profound repercussions on Russian military operations and strategic planning. Furthermore, it signals an escalation in the activity of hacker groups leveraging cyberspace to pursue political and military objectives, potentially intensifying tensions and conflict in the region.