Share :

Download PDF :

09.12.2016
EurActiv

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency yesterday (8 December) reported a striking increase in Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilising German society, and targeted cyber-attacks against political parties.

“We see aggressive and increased cyber spying and cyber operations that could potentially endanger German government officials, members of parliament and employees of democratic parties,” Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the BfV spy agency, said in statement.

WELCOME TO THE LEAK-OCRACY:  ELECTIONS DECIDED BY RUSSIAN HACKERS AND (WIKI)LEAKS

A new and disturbing factor emerged during this US presidential election, one that may change elections forever: democracies are now at the mercy of hacking and surveillance technologies, and those who control them. Steven Hill warns that Germany could be next.

EurActiv.com

Maassen, who raised similar concerns about Russian efforts to interfere in German elections last month, cited what he called increasing evidence about such efforts and said further cyber-attacks were expected.

The agency said it had seen a wide variety of Russian propaganda tools and “enormous use of financial resources” to carry out “disinformation” campaigns aimed at the Russian-speaking community in Germany, political movements, parties and other decision makers.

COMMISSION: RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA HAS DEEPLY PENETRATED EU COUNTRIES

A European Commission official has said that Russian propaganda was now powerful in all EU member states – but in some of them Moscow barely needed to make the effort, as local politicians were delivering its messages.

EurActiv.com

The goal was to spread uncertainty, strengthen extremist groups and parties, complicate the work of the federal government and “weaken or destabilise the Federal Republic of Germany”.

The agency said it had seen a “striking increase” in spear-phishing attacks attributed to Russian hacking group APT 28, also known as “Fancy Bear” or Strontrium. It is the same group blamed for the hack of the US Democratic National Committee this year and a cyber-attack on the German parliament in 2015.

RUSSIAN HACKERS EXPOSE ‘DOUBLE STANDARDS’ IN WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirmed yesterday (13 September) that hackers accessed a database of confidential medical data and released the drug regimens of gymnast Simone Biles and three other top US Olympians. The Russian government was behind the move, WADA claimed.

EurActiv.com

The attacks were directed against German parties and lawmakers and were carried out by government bodies posing as “hacktivists”, the agency said.

German officials have accused Moscow of trying to manipulate German media to fan popular angst over issues like the migrant crisis, weaken voter trust and breed dissent within the European Union so that it drops sanctions against Moscow.

But intelligence officials have stepped up their warnings in recent weeks, alarmed about the number of attacks.

Last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she could not rule out Russia interfering in Germany’s 2017 election through internet attacks and misinformation campaigns.

Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser on Thursday said he expected Russia to continue a campaign of “psychological warfare” and spreading false information after the cyber-attacks launched during the US election.

“It’s a pretty safe bet that they will try to do it again,” he told Reuters in Hamburg at a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. “They will try to surprise us. That’s something that we should be very careful to look at and try to protect ourselves from.”

Estonia has acted to shore up its cyber security after attacks that shut down private and government websites in 2007, which Estonia blamed on Russia. The Kremlin denied involvement.

Russian officials have denied all accusations of manipulation and interference intended to weaken the European Union or to affect the US presidential election.

US intelligence officials had warned in the run-up to the 8 November presidential election of efforts to undermine the credibility of the vote that they believed were backed by the Russian government.

MONTENEGRO HIT BY CYBER-ATTACKS ON ELECTION DAY

The Ministry for Information Society and Telecommunications of Montenegro has announced that several important websites were targeted by cyber-attacks on Sunday (16 October), the day of the country’s parliamentary elections.

EurActiv.com

UKRAINE SAYS RUSSIAN CYBER ATTACKS TARGETED ITS MAIN AIRPORT

Ukrainian authorities will review the defenses of government computer systems, including at airports and railway stations, after a cyber attack on Kyiv’s main airport was launched from a server in Russia, officials said yesterday (18 January).

EurActiv.com