A German government investigation, led by the Foreign Ministry, found that Russian hackers with state support targeted the Social Democratic Party in the governing coalition.
Germany accused Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, on Friday of being behind a 2023 cyberattack that targeted the Social Democrats (SPD).
NATO member Germany has been among the Western nations providing military support to Ukraine as it fights a Russian invasion and there have also been recent accusations of increased espionage.
In June 2023, the SPD announced that cybercriminals had targeted email accounts belonging to its executives earlier that year.
What are the latest accusations?
“Russian state hackers attacked Germany in cyberspace,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said during a visit to Australia.
“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 is also known as Fancy Bear and is controlled by Russia’s GRU military intelligence service. It 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.
The minister was 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.
