Germany Accuses Russia Of Electoral Interference
Germany has blamed Russia for cyber attacks on politicians that are attempting to influence its imminent general election later this month and has "reliable information” that Russia’s GRU military intelligence service was behind the attack. The German Foreign Ministry has stated that hackers have tried to steal email passwords from lawmakers in what may have been an attempt at election meddling.
The phishing attack in Germany was attributed to a hacking campaign known as Ghostwriter, which has been linked to similar efforts elsewhere.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse said this was part of a campaign targeting Germany “for some time.” She attributed it to an espionage group known as Ghostwriter, who are “combining conventional cyber-attacks with disinformation and influence operations.” Ghostwriter primarily targets audiences in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. Sasse outlined: "The German government has reliable information on the basis of which Ghostwriter activities can be attributed to cyber actors of the Russian state and, specifically, Russia's GRU military intelligence service."
Russia has been accused of numerous other attacks throughout the world on numerous occasions over recent years, including in the US and UK.
The question of German ties to Russia has been debated during the current German election campaign, particularly around the future of the gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, which may be a motivating factor for these attacks. Sasse said: “These attacks could serve as preparations for influence operations such as disinformation campaigns connected with the election.. The federal government strongly urges the Russian government to stop these unacceptable cyber activities with immediate effect.”
Germany will be in formal contact with the Russian government to urge an end such activity immediately and a new report by the Crime and Security Research Institute at Cardiff University says that Western media are often manipulated into spreading pro-Russian government disinformation.
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