Report: Russian group hacked Germany's government network
AP News | February 28, 2018
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Report: Russian group hacked Germany's government network
BERLIN (AP) — A Russian-backed hacker group known for many high-level cyber attacks was able to infiltrate the German government's secure computer networks, the dpa news agency reported Wednesday.

Dpa cited unidentified security sources saying the group APT28 hacked into Germany's foreign and defense ministries and managed to steal data.

The attack was noticed in December and may have lasted a year, dpa reported.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that "within the federal administration the attack was isolated and brought under control." The ministry said it was investigating.

A spokesman wouldn't give further details, citing the ongoing analysis and security measures being taken.

"This case is being worked on with the highest priority and considerable resources," the ministry statement said.

APT28, which has been linked to Russian military intelligence, has previously been identified as the likely source of an attack on the German Parliament in 2015, as well as on NATO and governments in eastern Europe.

Also known by other names including "Fancy Bear," APT28 has also been blamed for hacks of the U.S. election campaign, anti-doping agencies and other targets.

Hackers should have all their fingers cut off. That way,
they will learn.

maybe paper wasn't such a bad idea...can't hack paper..seems we're to dependant on computers and internet,which is proving not to be safe for important things...

would definitely have to agree with that Moe..they open their systems to the internet and expect it not to be hacked..you think they would have learned by now...

maybe they could build their own governmental intranet, that's not hooked to the www...if they can spend a billion dollars on 275 toilet seats, I'm sure they can come up with something...

I agree. I think this is happening everywhere...

I agree that all critical systems should be on their own intranet.
That being said, imagine the infrastructure needed to make it a reality.
Wireless signals can be hacked so it would have to be a wired 'hard-line' network. For a worldwide network that would mean server farms, hubs and relay stations, plus a gazillion other things to assure connectivity. The networks would have to be as separated from the WWW as highways are from train tracks and airline flight paths.
While it might work for a power grid or other utility, isolating each entity would get pretty intense.
Plus, every point of the system would be vulnerable so it would be a security nightmare. Hacking would be an intrusion at a physical locale.
Imagine what it would take to run a separate line through-out a country then multiply that by every entity wanting a secure network.
Not practical.

I don't know, the government owns 2 quantum computers that I know of, they could easily come up with unbreakable encryption that only quantom computers can break...

Meh.
Didn't the NSA tap Merkel's phone for "decades?"

I think pretty much every government hacks, taps, tests, infiltrates every other government in any way they can. Allied or antagonistic.

I don't think catching or exposing anyone at it will lead to anyone not doing it. At best it helps them figure out better ways to hide it.

I wonder if there will ever be any kind of tv show on this.
Like remember robot wars? Maybe different hacker groups are shown trying to "hack" their competitors country; government, banks, power grids, whatever. Each team has to figure out whether or not to focus more on defense or offense.

Its the price we pay to communicate on this site almost instantaneously. The devil is always in the details. When we were setting up the first fiberoptic networks for America, we never thought we would have so much predatory interdiction over the net.....sad. All we wanted was the world to be united to have peace worldwide....

Governments have always spied on other governments.
It's what they do.