Kiesewetter discusses cyber assault on CDU.
On Saturday, the CDU reported a cyberattack on their network, which reportedly targeted professional hackers. The party's security expert, Roderich Kiesewetter, believes this incident is connected to a similar attack on the SPD last year.
Kiesewetter believes the cyberattacks on the SPD and the CDU are part of a larger campaign targeting liberal democracies. "After the 2015 Bundestag attack by the Fancy Bear hacker group, affiliated with Russia's military intelligence service GRU, parties like the SPD and now the CDU are now in the crosshairs of Russian cyberattacks," he stated to the Berliner "Tagesspiegel."
Kiesewetter described cyberattacks as a means of "hybrid warfare" employed by Russia and China, aimed at causing damage to liberal democracies. "It's not just about stealing data, but it could also be a "Hack and Leak" to discredit certain institutions, individuals, or spread disinformation," he explained. "Especially when attacks target parties and are connected to elections, this is very serious," he added, considering his role as deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee, which oversees Germany's intelligence services.
Ahead of the European elections, the CDU has become the target of a cyberattack. The party is working closely with German security authorities and external security experts to address the situation. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Office for Information Security have launched suspect investigations.
CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann deemed the attack "scandalous," according to the "Neue Westfälische." CDU Thuringian state chairman Mario Voigt commented, "Whoever committed this attack views the CDU as a threat to their interests. The CDU is indeed a threat to all forces seeking to weaken Europe - whether they speak Russian, Chinese, or any other language." The party will thoroughly examine the attack and will not succumb to intimidation.
The German government is taking the incident seriously. The Interior Ministry acknowledged a significant cyberattack on the CDU's network but could not provide details on the extent of the damage or the attacker due to ongoing investigations. "The modus operandi indicates a highly professional actor," stated a Ministry spokesperson. It is unclear if sensitive data was affected.
The SPD also suffered from a similar cyberattack last year. Email accounts at party headquarters were hacked, and the German government blames a unit of the Russian military intelligence service, Group APT28, responsible for the attack. This group has been active in global cyber espionage since at least 2004 and has been connected to the 2015 Bundestag attack and the US' 2016 Democratic Party attack.
The attack on the SPD was part of a broader campaign targeting several European countries. Attacked were also German companies in the logistics, defense, aviation, and space and IT services sectors. The Foreign Office summoned a high-ranking Russian diplomat and recalled the German ambassador in Moscow for consultations in Berlin for a week. The attack allegedly used an unknown security vulnerability in the software company Microsoft.
The Digital Association Bitkom warned about an increasing number of these attacks from China and Russia. 80 percent of companies are affected by cyber incidents like data theft, espionage, or sabotage. 46 percent of these incidents can be traced back to Russia, 42 percent to China. Some attacks seek monetary gain, while others aim to cause maximum damage to critical infrastructure, such as energy supply and hospitals.
CDU politician Voigt highlighted the attackers' attempts to erode public trust in the state's ability to protect them. "Our political institutions are resilient, and our elections are not threatened by cyberattacks, but the threat situation is higher than ever." He emphasized the importance of raising awareness among the population about the dangers of "combat-ready cyberattacks from abroad, designed to destabilize the political climate with fake news and disinformation, and influence our elections," he stressed.
