According to a report by the BBC, a cyber attack on the German government’s IT network is “ongoing” with other media agencies pointing the finger at a Russian group of hackers known as Fancy Bear or APT28.
The attack was apparently detected in December last year and, despite being described as “ongoing”, the German security officials dealing with it appear confident that the attack has been isolated and is under control.
Fancy Bear are suspected to be behind cyber security breaches that occurred during the US presidential election in 2016 and have been blamed for an attack that targeted German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union, in 2015. The group are thought to have links to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intelligence services.
“A form of warfare”
Some German MPs have compared the attack to “a form of warfare”– indeed, this may be another example of Russia engaging in cyber intrigue abroad. Last year the head of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Ciaran Martin, described Russian hacker’s activities in the UK as “cause for concern.”
Russian hackers had been accused of being behind a major cyber attack on UK Parliamentary emails in June last year. However, Whitehall officials ended up confirming that in fact Iran was behind the attack. Last May’s WannaCry attack was attributed to North Korea. Following it, the President of Microsoft, Brad Smith, called for new international laws to be introduced to make clear that cyber attacks against civilians are illegal and in violation of international law.
You can read more about this ongoing story at the link below:
Hacking of German ministries ‘ongoing’
A cyber-attack on Germany’s government IT network is “ongoing”, officials say, a day after they said it had been “brought under control”. “It is a very serious cyber-attack,” said Armin Schuster, who chairs the parliamentary committee that oversees the intelligence services. The defence and interior ministries’ private networks are being affected.
How Cyber Essentials Can Help
The first step to keeping your organisation safe from cyber attack is to be certified with Cyber Essentials. Certification to the Government’s Cyber Essentials Scheme is a mandatory requirement for organisations wishing to win business with the MOD, and can help your organisation prepare for and defend itself against malicious cyber attacks.
