accused military intelligence service, the GRU, on Friday of being behind a 2023 cyberattack that targeted the .
NATO member Germany has been among the Western nations providing military support to and there have also been recent accusations of .
In June 2023, the SPD announced that cybercriminals had targeted email accounts belonging to its executives earlier that year.
The also said its institutions have been targeted by the APT28 group, also known as Fancy Bear and controlled by Russia’s GRU military intelligence service. The Czech Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it believed the group had exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft’s Outlook program.
The , of which both Berlin and Prague are members, condemned on Friday a “malicious cybercampaign” against the two countries. The bloc warned that it would use a “full spectrum” of tools to respond.
What are the latest accusations?
“Russian state hackers attacked Germany in cyberspace,” German Foreign Minister said during a .
“Today we can say unambiguously… we can attribute this cyber attack to a group called APT28, which is steered by the military intelligence service of Russia,” she told a news conference during a visit to Australia.
APT28 has been accused of dozens of cyberattacks around the world.
“In other words, it was a state-sponsored Russian cyber attack on Germany,” Baerbock said. “This is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences.”
Baerbock added there would be consequences, without offering specifics.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Germany would act alongside the European Union and NATO in its response.
“The Russian cyberattacks are a threat to our democracy, which we are resolutely countering,” Faeser said in a statement. “Under no circumstances will we allow ourselves to be intimidated by the Russian regime.”
The Interior Ministry added that there was some evidence the Russian cyberattack also compromised the servers of some German companies.
Germany summons Russian envoy
The German Foreign Ministry later said it had summoned a top Russian envoy about the alleged cyber attacks.
“We have summoned the acting charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy,” a ministry spokesman told reporters. He added that the government would “use the entire spectrum of measures to deter and respond to Russia’s aggressive behavior in cyberspace.”
Baerbock first addressed the cyberattacks while speaking after meeting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Adelaide.
Wong said Australia was also “deeply troubled” by the cyber activity raised by Baerbock.
“Australia stands in solidarity with Germany in calling out states that act contrary to the norms of responsible state behavior in cyberspace,” Wong said.
lo,rc/sms (AFP, Reuters)
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