Old-school hacktivism is making a comeback, and it by no means actually went away. The highlight is now on a bunch often called Mysterious Team Bangladesh (MTB), liable for a staggering 846 assaults since June 2022, primarily specializing in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) assaults.
Hacktivism appeared to wane in 2019, with solely seven energetic hacktivist teams being tracked in comparison with 28 in 2016.
Cybersecurity agency Group-IB has been carefully monitoring MTB and has found that the group first emerged in 2020 however solely gained vital momentum in mid-2022.
Most of its assaults occurred between February and May 2023, making it extremely energetic and infamous.
Group-IB means that the decline may need been as a consequence of decreased media protection and social media discussions round hacktivist cyberattacks. However, hacktivism tends to resurge in periods of geopolitical conflicts or tensions.
Politics Driven Motives
MTB’s motives are pushed by non secular and political causes, as indicated by its Blogspot-redirected web site. It claims to guard Bangladesh’s our on-line world and take away “adult and atheist content” from social media.
The group primarily targets authorities, monetary, and transportation sectors in India and Israel. However, it has additionally struck different nations, together with Senegal, Ethiopia, Australia, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
MTB’s most well-liked mode of assault is DDoS, accounting for 84 p.c of its assaults, whereas web site defacement makes up 9 p.c and database entry a mere 2.6 p.c.
Notably, MTB operates in a cyclical sample. It identifies a information occasion that gives a goal in a particular nation and assaults that nation for a quick interval. Then it reverts to its main targets, India and Israel.
The group’s assaults on India relate to alleged abuses towards the Muslim prophet Muhammad, whereas assaults on Israel are in response to actions towards Palestinian folks.
The Open Challenge
MTB has been far from secretive about its actions. The group maintains a robust on-line presence by means of numerous social media platforms. They embrace Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Telegram, and, surprisingly, Pinterest.
The group additionally seems to align itself with the notorious hacker collective Anonymous. While it shares Anonymous’s tagline and retweets teams claiming to be half of the collective, MTB doesn’t use its branding, similar to the recognizable Guy Fawkes masks.
Unlike cybercriminals or nation-state actors who intention to stay unnoticed, hacktivist teams like MTB actively attempt to attract consideration to their actions.
Cybersecurity consultants at Group-IB imagine that MTB’s operations will proceed to develop in 2023. They anticipate intensified assaults in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East, specializing in monetary corporations and authorities entities.
As hacktivism positive aspects momentum once more, it serves as a reminder that hacktivists search consideration for his or her political or non secular causes. The return of old-school hacktivism, exemplified by MTB, underscores the want for elevated vigilance in the cybersecurity panorama.
As these teams proceed to evolve and adapt their ways, organizations, and governments should keep forward of the curve to guard themselves from the potential fallout of hacktivist campaigns.
…. to be continued
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