Cyber Threat Actor: El Harrachi B.A.Z. Team
| Actor Type | Location | Known Incidents |
Activist
|
Algeria
|
2 incidents |
|---|
Profile
El Harrachi B.A.Z. Team is an Algerian hacker group known by that alias and operating from Algeria. The group has been observed carrying out website defacement actions that are tied to political events, particularly following Algeria’s participation in international football matches. Their activities are characterized by the replacement of homepage content with messages that reference the specific match, include Algerian national symbols, and sometimes reference individuals involved in the event, such as match officials. These actions are intended to convey a political statement rather than to pursue financial gain or espionage, as the disclosed motivations are rooted in nationalist sentiment stemming from sporting outcomes.
On April 9 2022, El Harrachi B.A.Z. Team defaced two Cameroonian online platforms: an online newspaper portal and the educational website of a telecommunications company. The attackers gained access to the sites’ homepages and substituted the original content with a pro‑Algerian message that referenced the disputed referee from Algeria’s World Cup qualification loss to Cameroon and displayed the Algerian flag. Both organizations reported temporary disruption of service; the telecommunications company restored its site within a few hours, while the newspaper platform issued a public condemnation and worked to bring the site back online. The incident illustrates the group’s use of straightforward web defacement techniques to achieve immediate visibility and to broadcast a politically charged narrative.
Beyond the April 2022 operation, open reporting indicates that El Harrachi B.A.Z. Team follows a pattern of targeting digital assets in nations considered rivals after contentious sporting encounters, with earlier defacements reportedly directed at Moroccan and Israeli entities using similar tactics of homepage alteration and nationalist imagery. No public sources attribute the group to a state sponsor, criminal consortium, or any specific malware family, and no details about initial access vectors, tooling, or financial motives have been disclosed. Consequently, the known profile of El Harrachi B.A.Z. Team is limited to its alias, Algerian origin, reliance on web defacement for politically motivated disruption, and a observed focus on media and telecommunications sectors in the context of football‑related geopolitical tensions.