Suspected threat actors last month disrupted the website of the authority running Germany’s September 26 general election, reported AFP.
- The website used to publish the official results of the vote was hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack.
- According to a spokesman, the attack took place at the end of August and caused temporary disruption of the service.
Suspected threat actors last month disrupted the website of the authority running Germany’s September 26 general election, reported AFP.
The attack did not impact the IT infrastructure used to regulate the election due to the extra protection implemented by the government technicians.
“At the end of August, the website of the Federal Returning Officer only had limited accessibility for a few minutes due to a malfunction,” reported a spokesman for the body.
“The problem was analysed, and the technical concepts were further developed accordingly. The information for the public through the website of the Federal Returning Officer was and is ensured.”
The federal prosecutor's office began an investigation into the incident. Government officials recently accused Russian state-sponsored hackers of cyber espionage on MOs.
Andrea Sasse, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, has pointed the finger at threat actors from Russia's "Ghostwriter" group which reportedly specialises in circulating disinformation and influence operations.
“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,” she added.
The government of Berlin calls on the Kremlin to immediately halt these campaigns. The German government considers the attacks completely unacceptable and warns of a possible response if they do not end.
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