Cyber Incident Victim: Tribunal Supremo de Justicia de Venezuela
Date:
Aug 2017
Location:
Venezuela
Summary
A hacking collective known as The Binary Guardians targeted Venezuela's Supreme Court alongside approximately 40 other government and state-backed websites, including legislative bodies and telecommunications providers, disrupting services and defacing pages with protest messages. The group cited opposition to the government's repression and impunity as motivation, aligning their cyberattacks with street protests and a recent military raid against the administration. Claiming global membership, the hackers characterized their actions as digital resistance to support anti-government efforts, warning of additional disruptions while framing the judiciary as complicit in maintaining authoritarian rule.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On August 7, 2017, a hacker collective known as The Binary Guardians launched coordinated cyberattacks against approximately 40 Venezuelan government and state-affiliated websites, including those of the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo de Justicia), the national legislature, telecommunications provider Digitel, and subscription service DirecTV. The attacks disrupted operations and forced multiple sites offline, with some remaining inaccessible late into the day. The group defaced compromised websites with protest messages, including excerpts from Charlie Chaplin’s speech in "The Great Dictator," and used Twitter to disseminate their statements. They explicitly framed the cyber campaign as digital support for ongoing anti-government protests and the preceding day’s military raid on an army base in Valencia, where former National Guard captain Juan Carlos Caguaripano led an attempted uprising. Venezuelan authorities restored the presidential homepage by late Monday, though other affected sites experienced prolonged outages.
The hackers declared their actions part of a broader struggle against President Nicolás Maduro’s administration, denouncing the Supreme Court as a legal instrument of dictatorship and condemning state repression against civilians. In communications with IBTimes UK, an unnamed representative of The Binary Guardians stated the group operated globally and intended to conduct further attacks, though without specifying timing or targets. They characterized their efforts as complementary to street protests, aiming to demonstrate solidarity with Venezuelans opposing the government. Concurrently, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino confirmed the military’s response to the physical insurrection in Valencia, reporting two attackers killed, eight captured, and approximately ten fugitives. The cyberattacks amplified existing political tensions but did not achieve sustained disruption, as restoration efforts mitigated immediate operational impacts while highlighting vulnerabilities in state digital infrastructure.