The Binary Guardians
The Binary Guardians was a Venezuelan hacktivist group associated with defacements and disruptions targeting government websites during the political turmoil of 2017, including messages linked to Operation David.
- Incidents
- 33
- High impact
- 1
- First seen
- Jul 31, 2017
- Latest seen
- Aug 7, 2017
Linked incidents
The Binary Guardians Compromised the Caracas Government Website During the Campaign on August 7, 2017
On August 7, 2017, El Pitazo listed the Caracas government among the websites affected by the attack, and IT Projects included the domain caracas.gob.ve on its partial list. No direct confirmation was found from the mayor’s office, nor was a screenshot on file, so this is recorded as a partially verified disruption of the public website.
The Binary Guardians affected the e-Government portal during the campaign on August 7, 2017
On August 7, 2017, the Gobierno en línea portal was named by EFE/El Pitazo and appears with the exact domain gobiernoenlinea.gob.ve on IT Projects’ technical list. The BBC also linked to the Venezuelan government site in its coverage of the attack. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration.
The Binary Guardians Affects the CENCOEX Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, CENCOEX was named by EFE/BBC Mundo, El Pitazo, and IT Projects as one of the affected websites. BBC Mundo reported that CENCOEX remained offline while other sites had already been restored. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration or tampering with internal foreign exchange systems.
The Binary Guardians Disrupts CONATEL's Portal During the Campaign Against .ve Domains
On August 7, 2017, CONATEL was identified as an affected target by EFE/El Pitazo and appears on IT Projects’ technical list. CONATEL’s significance is further underscored by the fact that NIC.ve—described by CANTV as the target of the DNS attack—reports to that regulator. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration.
The Binary Guardians Affects the DIRECTV Venezuela Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, DIRECTV was named by El Pitazo on the list of websites targeted in the attack and by IT Projects among the private companies included in the defacement. IBTimes also reported that DIRECTV was the target of the cyberattacks. No direct confirmation was found from the company.
The Binary Guardians Compromised the Despegar Venezuela Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, Despegar was named by Runrun.es as one of the downed .ve websites and appears as despegar.com.ve on IT Projects’ technical list. El Pitazo listed it as Depegar.com.ve, likely due to a typo. No direct confirmation from the company was found.
The Binary Guardians Affects Digitel's Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, Runrun.es cited journalist Fran Monroy, who reported that Digitel was among the .ve sites that went down during the campaign. IBTimes, citing Deutsche Welle, also reported that the telecommunications provider Digitel was targeted by cyberattacks. No direct confirmation from the company or archived screenshot of the site was found; therefore, this is recorded as partially verified and described as an impact on the public portal, not as a data breach.
The Binary Guardians Affects the Farmatodo Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, Farmatodo was named by El Pitazo, Runrun.es, and IT Projects as one of the private websites affected or taken down during The Binary Guardians’ campaign. No direct confirmation from the company or evidence of data exfiltration was found.
The Binary Guardians Compromised the INPSASEL Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, El Pitazo listed INPSASEL among the websites targeted in the attack; this is typically written as INPSASEL because IT Projects lists the domain inpsasel.gob.ve. No direct confirmation from the agency or archived screenshot of the site was found.
The Binary Guardians Affects the Mercado Libre Venezuela Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, Mercado Libre was named by El Pitazo, Runrun.es, and IT Projects as one of the websites affected or taken down during The Binary Guardians’ campaign. This record distinguishes this episode from the separate attack against Mercado Libre reported in late July 2017 and attributed by other sources to Anonymous Venezuela.
The Binary Guardians Affects the Movilnet Portal During the August 7, 2017, Web Campaign
On August 7, 2017, Movilnet was listed by El Pitazo, IT Projects, and Runrun.es among the websites affected or taken down during The Binary Guardians’ campaign. This record documents the impact on the movilnet.com.ve website and is separate from the subsequent GSM/fiber outage that left millions of users without mobile service.
The Binary Guardians Affects the Movistar Venezuela Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, Runrun.es cited journalist Fran Monroy, who reported that Movistar was among the sites that went down during the campaign against .ve websites. No direct confirmation was found from the operator, nor was there a second independent journalistic source naming Movistar or an archived screenshot of the site; it is recorded as a partially verified disruption and not as a confirmed defacement.
The Binary Guardians attack the Bolivarian Navy’s website during the August 7, 2017, campaign
On August 7, 2017, the Navy was named by EFE/BBC Mundo, El Pitazo, IT Projects, and Freedom House as one of the military sites affected by The Binary Guardians. The BBC also mentioned the Venezuelan Navy in its English-language coverage. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration or compromise of internal naval systems.
The Binary Guardians attacked the Venezuelan Presidency’s website during the campaign on August 7, 2017
On August 7, 2017, the website of the Presidency of the Republic was named by EFE/El Pitazo and appears as presidencia.gob.ve on IT Projects’ technical list. IBTimes reported that the presidential website had been restored later that day. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration.
The Binary Guardians Compromised the CICPC Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, CICPC (the Venezuelan Criminal Investigation Police) was named by EFE, BBC Mundo, El Pitazo, IT Projects, and Freedom House as one of the organizations targeted by The Binary Guardians. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration or compromise of internal police systems.
The Binary Guardians attack the Bolivarian Army’s website during the campaign on August 7, 2017
On August 7, 2017, the Army was named by EFE/BBC Mundo, El Pitazo, IT Projects, and Freedom House as one of the military sites targeted by The Binary Guardians. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration or compromise of internal military networks.
The Binary Guardians Affects the National Anti-Drug Fund (FONA) Website
On August 7, 2017, El Pitazo included FONA on its list of at least 25 websites that were victims of the attack, and IT Projects kept the domain FONA.GOB.VE on its partial list of affected websites. No official source or direct archived screenshot of the site was found, so this entry is maintained as partially verified.
The Binary Guardians affects the National Land Transportation Institute (INTT) website
On August 7, 2017, EFE/El Pitazo named the National Transportation Institute (INTT) among the sites affected by The Binary Guardians. IT Projects and Maduradas also list INTT.GOB.VE among the compromised sites. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration.
The Binary Guardians affects the Venezuelan Social Security Institute (IVSS) portal
On August 7, 2017, sources from EFE/El Pitazo named the Social Security Administration (IVSS) as one of the sites affected by The Binary Guardians. IT Projects still lists the domain IVSS.GOB.VE on its partial list. No direct confirmation from the IVSS or evidence of data exfiltration was found.
"The Binary Guardians" Affects the SAIME Portal During the August 7, 2017, Campaign
On August 7, 2017, SAIME was identified by EFE/El Pitazo, BBC Mundo/Los Angeles Times, Freedom House, and IT Projects as one of the affected targets. The sources describe the defacement or redirection of web pages with political messages; there is no evidence of the exfiltration of immigration or identity data.
The Binary Guardians compromised the website of the Vice Ministry for Africa during the campaign on August 7, 2017
On August 7, 2017, El Pitazo listed the Vice Ministry for Africa among the websites targeted in the attack, and IT Projects retained the domain viceministerioparaafrica.gob.ve. No direct confirmation from the MPPRE or publicly archived screenshot was found, so this is recorded as partially verified.
The Binary Guardians compromised the Bolivarian National Police website during the campaign on August 7, 2017
On August 7, 2017, the National Police (PNB) was identified by EFE, BBC Mundo, El Pitazo, IT Projects, and Freedom House as a site affected by The Binary Guardians. BBC Mundo reported that the National Police’s website remained offline. The current institutional profile remains CPNB, while this record retains the observed domain policianacional.gob.ve.
The Binary Guardians defaced the Venezuelan National Assembly’s website during the August 7, 2017, campaign
On August 7, 2017, the National Assembly reported on its official account that its website had been hacked. The site also appears on public and technical lists of targets affected by The Binary Guardians during the campaign linked to the Operation David message. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration.
The Binary Guardians defaced the National Electoral Council (CNE) website during the August 7, 2017, campaign
On August 7, 2017, The Binary Guardians once again targeted the National Electoral Council’s website as part of a defacement and DNS redirection campaign against .ve domains. Public sources indicate that the CNE website displayed a pamphlet supporting Operation David and a video of *The Great Dictator*; a CNE spokesperson confirmed to BBC Mundo that the site had been hacked and was restored shortly after noon. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration.
The Binary Guardians defaced the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) website during the campaign on August 7, 2017
On August 7, 2017, the Supreme Court of Justice website was identified by media outlets and technical sources as one of the sites affected by The Binary Guardians. The defaced pages displayed anti-government messages, references to Operation David, and a quote from *The Great Dictator*. There is no public evidence of data theft or compromise of internal judicial systems.
The Binary Guardians defaces or redirects the CANTV portal during the campaign against .ve domains
On August 7, 2017, CANTV was named by EFE, El Pitazo, Runrun.es, and IT Projects as one of the websites affected by The Binary Guardians. Days later, the president of CANTV publicly described an attack on NIC.ve/DNS that redirected multiple official .ve websites. There is no public evidence of data exfiltration from the operator.
The Binary Guardians lists INCES/INCE among the portals affected by the August 7, 2017, campaign
IT Projects retained INCES.GOB.VE on its partial list of affected domains, and Maduradas reported INCE among the websites hacked during the same campaign. It is standardized as INCES, the current institutional name. No direct confirmation or archived screenshot was found, so it is retained as partially verified.
The Binary Guardians lists Bancaribe among the websites affected by the August 7, 2017, campaign
On August 7, 2017, El Pitazo included Bancaribe on its list of at least 25 websites that were victims of the attack by The Binary Guardians. No second public source naming Bancaribe, no archived screenshot, and no confirmation from the bank were found; this is recorded as a partially verified incident.
The Binary Guardians lists the CIARA domain among the websites affected by the August 7, 2017, campaign
IT Projects included ciara.gov.ve on its partial list of domains affected by The Binary Guardians’ campaign on August 7, 2017. No independent corroboration by name, official confirmation, or direct archived screenshot of the site was found; therefore, it is recorded as partially verified.
The Binary Guardians take down the VTV website following the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election
On July 31, 2017, The Binary Guardians listed VTV among the government websites affected following the election of the National Constituent Assembly. CNN verified that VTV remained offline around 11 a.m.; other sources reported that the website had been hacked or compromised. No direct archived screenshot of a defaced VTV homepage was found, so the incident is recorded as an impact on the public website.
The Binary Guardians defaced the CNE’s website and took over its Twitter account following the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election (July 2017)
On July 31, 2017, in the early hours following the July 30 election for the National Constituent Assembly, the hacktivist group The Binary Guardians defaced the website of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) (www.cne.gov.ve), which remained inaccessible for several hours, displaying the word “hacked,” the group’s account, and messages denouncing alleged electoral fraud (“What do you think—that we don’t know you committed fraud?”, “Venezuela is going to burn,” “Our fight is digital. You block the streets, and we’ll block the networks”). The group also took control of the CNE’s Twitter account, from which—according to reports—it posted that the approximately 8 million reported votes were “a complete lie” and “total fraud,” claiming that the actual number of votes did not exceed 2 million. CNE President Tibisay Lucena confirmed the attack by “criminal groups” and that service had been restored. The same campaign affected other government websites (VTV, the Presidency, among others) and intensified in August 2017.
"The Binary Guardians" reports that ANTV is among the government websites affected following the Constituent Assembly election
On July 31, 2017, PanAm Post listed ANTV among the Venezuelan government websites that were hacked or inaccessible in an incident attributed to The Binary Guardians. No archived screenshot, official confirmation, or second public source specifically naming antv.gob.ve was found; therefore, the incident is recorded as partially verified.
The Binary Guardians Hack the MPPEUCT Website Following the Constituent Assembly Election
Espacio Público reported that The Binary Guardians listed the Ministry of Popular Power for University Education, Science, and Technology among the sites compromised on July 31, 2017, following the results of the National Constituent Assembly. PanAm Post referred more generally to the Ministry of Education. There was insufficient public evidence to create a 2017 incident involving me.gob.ve.