Hacktivist group Mysterious Team Bangladesh has taken responsibility for the Ethiopian Ministry of Health cyber attack. The website, which was inaccessible during our initial investigation, is live now.
In a tweet, the group claimed the alleged Ethiopian Ministry of Health cyber attack by posting a picture of the website, which displayed an error message.
The image was also shared by FalconFeedsio, along with a text that read, “Mysterious Team Bangladesh group have taken down the website of Ethiopian Ministry Of Health. Group also claims to target Ethiopian Ministry websites in coming hours.”
The group also stated that the Ethiopian Ministry of Health cyber attack is just the beginning, with more to follow.
The official website of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, which was inaccessible during our initial investigation, is live at the time of publishing this report. However, the consequences of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health cyber attack, if confirmed, might start showing soon.
This disruption directly affects the ministry’s ability to disseminate crucial information, hindering the public’s access to vital healthcare resources and updates.
Moreover, to make matters worse, in their note, the Mysterious Team Bangladesh also threatened to target more Ethiopian Ministry websites in the coming hours.
Ethiopian Ministry of Health Cyber Attack: What we know so far!
Little is known about Mysterious Team Bangladesh, making their actions even more enigmatic. The group, whose origins and motivations remain shrouded in secrecy, has managed to catch the attention of cybersecurity experts and authorities alike.
The Cyber Express team has reached out to the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to ascertain the veracity of the claims made by Mysterious Team Bangladesh. However, at the time of writing, no official response had been received.
Earlier this month, the Mysterious Team Bangladesh claimed another victim and was reportedly using the same tactic used in the Ethiopian Ministry of Health hack.
Prior to the Ethiopian Ministry of Health cyber attack, Mysterious Team Bangladesh also claimed responsibility for multiple attacks on the Indian media including news agency ANI News and fact-checking website Alt News.
Their message on Twitter read, “Indian South Asian News Agency @ANI website dropped,” accompanied by a screenshot of the official website featuring a “502 bad gateway” error. Additionally, they employed the hashtag #OpIndia23, seemingly connected to Operation India 2023.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Health cyber attack seems to be the beginning of the upcoming attacks because Ethiopia has 23 ministries that could be the direct victim of the Mysterious Team Bangladesh group.
Ethiopian Ministry of Health cyber attack and victims of ‘hacktivism’
The Ethiopian Ministry of Health cyber attack appears to be the latest, but not the last, in the list of geopolitical hacktivism campaigns.
The Cyber Express earlier reported on the rise of geopolitical hacktivism in the India and the neighboring countries, posing a considerable threat to the country given its distinct societal, ideological, and economic position in the subcontinent.
Various hacktivist organizations including Mysterious Team Bangladesh have conducted cyber-attacks on government and private entities across borders.
“Hacktivism has begun to pose a considerable threat to India due to its unique societal, ideological, and economic position in the continent,” said an analysis of the situation by the Cyble Research & Intelligence Labs (CRIL).
Noted victims of Mysterious Team Bangladesh include AICTE India and Indian media houses ANI and Alt News.
Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs noted in its blog that while some of these campaigns were launched in the name of religious intolerance, others were politically motivated.
“Over the years, Hacktivism has become more cynical. Once a tool to voice social and political change, it has evolved into a nefarious apparatus of across-the-border crime to further their ideological agendas, disrupt government and business, and create social disharmony,” read the blog post.
An anti-India Campaign by the Anonymous Sudan hacker group targeted other nations including Sweden, Australia, France, and the Netherlands before attacking India.
