Angela Merkel’s Ally Caught In Cyber Attack As Elections Loom

A top leader of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party said her website had been hit by thousands of cyber-attacks, many from Russian IP addresses.

German intelligence and government officials have often voiced concerns that Moscow could seek to interfere in the September 24 national election, in which Merkel is widely expected to win a fourth term.

Russia has repeatedly denied trying to influence foreign elections.

Julia Kloeckner, vice chairman of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has announced that her political website had seen some 3,000 attacks before the debate between Merkel and Social Democratic leader Martin Schulz.

Following a pattern seen in earlier hacks, the CDU’s headquarters in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where Kloeckner is the party’s leader, also experienced “massive attacks” ahead of the debate, she said.

“Many of the senders have Russian IP addresses,” Kloeckner added.

German authorities have blamed a spate of cyber-attacks directed at the German parliament, individual politicians, political parties and political think-tanks since summer 2015 on APT 28, a Russian hacker group with links to Moscow.

Kloeckner did not say how the attacks had been discovered or what form they had taken. Many recent cyber-attacks targeted at German politicians and institutions have used phishing schemes that include attachments with malicious software.

Germany’s BSI federal cyber protection agency said it was aware of the incidents and was in touch with the CDU headquarters in the state, a spokesman said.

Officials with the headquarters of the CDU and the Social Democrats, junior partners in the ruling coalition, said they had not seen a wave of similar attacks on their websites.

Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence agency, told reporters in July that Berlin expected Russia to try to influence this month’s election and said he suspected that Russian President Vladimir Putin would prefer a different German chancellor than Merkel.

Merkel backs continued sanctions against Russia for its actions toward Ukraine. Relations between Germany and Russia have been cool in recent years, although Germany is highly dependent on energy supplies from Russia.

A spokesman for the German interior ministry told a news conference on Monday 4th September that cyber-attacks directed at political parties had increased generally in recent months, but declined to comment on the latest incidents.

He noted the BSI had been working closely with politicians and parties to increase security.

Experts said hackers were increasingly going after subsidiary sites such as those of local party branches in the hope of finding vulnerabilities.

Tyson Barker, program director of the Aspen Institute Deutschland think-tank, said the attacks on a state-level CDU party infrastructure continued a pattern of hackers probing for potential weak links in the broader political system.

“The main battle front in this hybrid war, in the US as in Germany, will likely be in the states, not Berlin or Washington, said Barker, adding: “Those who thought Russian intelligence was going to sit this one out seem to have been proven wrong.”

Julia Klöckner, who along with Chancellor Angela Merkel is part of the Christian Democratic Union, says the group’s website was hit with 3,000 attacks on Sunday 3rd September, many from Russian IP addresses.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the hacking attempts, or how successful they were.

US authorities say the Kremlin directed hacks of the Democratic National Committee in order to benefit President Trump, though Russian authorities have repeatedly denied orchestrating such attempts to undermine the democratic process.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron confirmed shortly before his election in May that his emails had been leaked online, though he ended up defeating his far-right opponent Marine Le Pen.

Germany’s intelligence chief said in July that he expected an influence campaign from Moscow ahead of the September 24 election.

The reported hack attempts on Sunday came right before Merkel debated the head of her party’s main rival, the Social Democrats.

Merkel is expected to win a fourth term as chancellor in the election, with a recent opinion poll showing her party with 38% and the SPD with 24%.

News.com.au     Image: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

You Might Also Read:

Merkel Bugged While Pondering Greece Crisis:

Germany May Go Offensive After Russian Cyber Attacks:

German Spy Chief Fears Russian Interference In  2017 Elections:

Germany's New Infrastructure Cybersecurity Law: