Berlin: German authorities claim that hackers allegedly connected with Russian special services are actively operating ahead of the Bundestag elections due September 26.
"Ahead of the elections in Germany there have been attempts, including some involving phishing messages, to get access to the personal data, in the first place, of those members of the Bundestag and land legislatures. These attacks ahead of the elections may serve as preparations for certain operations, such as disinformation campaigns," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Andrea Sasse told a news briefing, adding that according to the German authorities a group calling itself Ghostwriter might have been behind the cyberattacks.
"The German government has reliable information making it possible to conclude that the Russian state, specifically the GRU, is behind Ghostwriter's activities," Sasse said. "The German government sees these unacceptable actions as a threat to the security of the federative republic and the democratic process of the people expressing their will, as well as a heavy burden on bilateral relations. The German government insistently urges the Russian government to put an end to this intolerable hacker activity," Sasse said. "Berlin directly expressed this demand to the Russian authorities, last time at a session of the German-Russian high-level working group for security policy issues, which took place last week on September 2-3."
Russia has repeatedly denied the accusations of complicity in hacker attacks in Germany. No German agency or organization concerned has provided any evidence that might prove the charges the hackers might be connected with Moscow.