Why German security services anticipate high Russian cyber attacks

BERLIN – Germany’s security services assess the danger of cyber attacks from Russia as high, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said on Friday, while refusing to comment on reports that Russia was preparing large-scale attacks aided by private IT companies. 

“We have confirmed attacks in the past without commenting on current media coverage,” the spokeswoman said, noting the authorities were working closely together to analyse and prepare for any potential attacks.

Her comments came after several reports suggested that Russia was planning to launch large-scale cyber attacks with the help of software companies.

Leaked confidential documents suggest Moscow-based IT company NTC Vulkan was developing tools to enable state hackers to plan cyber attacks and disseminate disinformation and propaganda on a mass scale.

The reports were based on material sent to journalists which was then processed by a consortium of 11 international media outlets led by Paper Trail Media and Spiegel as well as the Guardian, the Washington Post and Le Monde.

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German security sources have not seen any evidence of successful cyber attacks already carried out by NTC Vulkan, however.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told Spiegel that the national IT security agency (BSI) would currently take on the blead as the central point for handling cyber attacks. In future, the BSI muszt be able to identify such attacks early on and halt them, she said.

Faeser paid tribute to the “significant expertise” at the BSI as was evident in its proceedings against global networks in the darknet.

She said however that changes were needed to Germany’s basic law in order to expand the powers of the BSI.