CYBER THREAT ANALYSIS
Figure 9 (Left): Graphic showing solidarity between the “Milk Tea Alliance’’ countries. (Source: Sina Wittayawirok, Reddit)
Figure 10 (Right): Photo showing umbrella movement participants in Myanmar. (Source: Reddit (2))
Reddit forums are also being used to identify militaryoperated websites, emails, military related Facebook accounts,
or file servers that should be targeted. Forum threads contain
lists of Myanmar military affiliated social media pages and
websites that were recommended for targeting by the hacktivist
groups in their anti-military campaigns. Another running list was
observed on the open source media site Medium. Furthermore,
the protesters have expanded the scope of targeting to include
military-owned businesses and businesses belonging to
members of military families. Activist groups such as Justice
for Myanmar were also found to have launched mirror sites that
were used to coordinate efforts and spread news to those within
Myanmar after their official site was banned within the country.
The History of Political Unrest in Myanmar
1988 Elections and Uprising
Milk Tea Alliance
Crucially, the protesters in Myanmar are also learning lessons
from their pro-Democracy counterparts, known as the Milk Tea
Alliance, in other East and Southeast Asian countries, namely
Hong Kong. A Reddit thread posted on February 17, 2021 showed
a 78-page Google document, titled “The HK19 Manual - Part 1:
the Roles”, written in both English and Burmese. The manual
detailed items such as the various roles that are needed in a
pro-Democracy movement and their responsibilities, such as
“Front-liners”, “Scouts”, and “Social Workers”. Other resources
listed within the document include student activist groups, legal
support, and international media resources that could be used
to amplify messaging internationally.
9
Members of the Milk Tea Alliance in other Southeast Asian
countries, such as Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, were
encouraged by the group to show their solidarity with the people
of Myanmar on February 28, 2021 and organize their own protests
within their respective countries. The rallies took place mostly
online, and there were a small number of in-person protests in
places such as Thailand and Taiwan, with online participants
sharing their artwork, identifying military-owned businesses in
Myanmar, and amplifying the Burmese pro-democracy message
to the international community.
In an effort to reduce the nation’s debt in 1987, Ne Win
announced the withdrawal of the newly replaced currency notes,
75, 35, and 25 kyats, leaving the 45 and 90 kyat notes. This
angered many university students as their tuition savings were
reduced. As a result, students from the Rangoon Institute of
Technology (RIT) protested in the streets of then-capital Rangoon,
now known as Yangon, and distributed anti-government leaflets.
Other university protest groups set off bombs and organized
smaller gatherings in the university campus. This led to an
increasing student activist group who had a growing resentment
toward the military rule, the economic policies of Ne Win, and
the corruption of the government.
CTA-2021-0324
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