Cyberattack against German government ‘ongoing’

BERLIN — A cyberattack targeting Germany’s government IT network is “ongoing,” the parliamentary committee on intelligence issues says, without confirming a media report that Russian hackers were behind the assault.

“It is a real cyberattack on part of the government system. It’s an ongoing process, an ongoing attack,” says Armin Schuster, chairman of the committee, adding that no further details would be given to avoid passing crucial information on to the attackers.

Quoting unnamed security sources, German news agency DPA reported Wednesday that Russian hackers had infiltrated government networks including those of the foreign and interior ministries.

It said the hacker group known as APT28 — which has been linked to Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency and accused of attacks on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign — managed to plant malware in the ministries’ networks for possibly as long as a year.

Konstantin von Notz, deputy of the committee, complains it was “completely unacceptable” that members of the oversight body only learnt of the attack through the media.

— AFP