Russia blamed by German foreign ministry for parliament cyber attack
Russia is responsible for a cyber attack on Germany parliament, a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry has said today.
The attacks come ahead of Germany’s parliamentary election on 26 September, which will see chancellor Angela Merkel depart the helm, and could have prompted the string of violations.
The spokesperson, Andrea Sasse, added that a hacker known as Ghostwriter had been “combining conventional cyberattacks with disinformation and influence operations”, with activities having been observed “for some time.”
“The German government has reliable information according to which ghost writer activities can be attributed to cyber protagonists of the Russian state or Russia’s GRU military intelligence [service],” Sasse told reporters in Berlin earlier today.
The attacks are being viewed by Germany as “a danger to the security of the Federal Republic of Germany and for the process of democratic decision-making, and as a severe strain on bilateral relations.”
The extent of the damage as a result of the cyber attacks are not yet known.