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Ghostwriter

Ghostwriter campaign

A long-running hack-and-leak and disinformation campaign against NATO's eastern members — Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and later Germany — that compromised news websites and officials' accounts to plant fabricated anti-NATO and anti-US content and forged documents, and to stoke Polish–Lithuanian tensions. Mandiant assessed with high confidence that the supporting group, UNC1151, is linked to the Belarusian government; in September 2021 the EU associated the activity with the Russian state after it targeted German lawmakers before the federal election.

Attribution carries a documented nuance. Mandiant attributes the technical operator, UNC1151, to Belarus with high confidence and could not rule out — but found no direct evidence of — a Russian contribution. The EU's 24 September 2021 declaration instead associated the broader Ghostwriter activity with the Russian state. Both point to a state-backed operation; they differ on which state is named.

Actors

Evidence Library

JournalismCyberScoop (reporting Mandiant)November 2021
Mandiant links Belarus to Ghostwriter campaign, which leaked stolen data and pushed disinformation
OriginalArchive pending
ResearchEuropean Repository of Cyber Incidents (EuRepoC)2023
APT Profile: UNC1151
OriginalArchive pending
JournalismCyberScoop (reporting Mandiant)November 2021
Mandiant links Belarus to Ghostwriter campaign, which leaked stolen data and pushed disinformation
OriginalArchive pending
ResearchEuropean Repository of Cyber Incidents (EuRepoC)2023
APT Profile: UNC1151
OriginalArchive pending