Secret services
Cyber attacks: expert sees “worrying situation”
Claudia Plattner says that one is not defenseless against the threat. photo
© Robert Michael/dpa
The federal government blames Russia for a cyber attack on the SPD. It’s not just BSI boss Plattner who is now calling for the consistent implementation of protective measures.
After the suspected Russian cyber attack on the BSI President Claudia Plattner SPD warned of further cases and called for consistent implementation of protective measures. “We have a worrying threat situation,” said the President of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) on Friday evening in the ARD “Tagesthemen”. The Green Party domestic politician Konstantin von Notz called on the federal government to take decisive action – the CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter called for more resources for cyber defense in Germany.
Consistently approach technical protective measures
Plattner said they are not defenseless against the threat. “There are technical options to protect yourself. We now have to implement them consistently together.” Specifically, the expert said: “We all have to get our IT in order.” The systems have to be up to date and data backups have to be made if necessary. “So there is a lot to do, and it is also very complex. If it were a simple topic, we would all have done it long ago,” she said.
Cyber attacks not only on the SPD – a diplomatic signal to Moscow
It had previously become known that the federal government blamed a Russian military intelligence unit for a cyber attack on the SPD last year. According to the SPD, the target at the time was email accounts from the party headquarters. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, further cyber attacks were directed against German companies in the areas of logistics, armaments, aerospace, IT services as well as foundations and associations.
On Friday, the Foreign Office summoned a high-ranking Russian diplomat, the acting chargé d’affaires, to head the Russian embassy in the ambassador’s absence. This is a clear diplomatic signal “to make it clear to Moscow that we do not accept this approach, that we clearly condemn it and that we reserve the right to take action,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesman.
“Make democracy more defensive”
Green politician von Notz, who heads the parliamentary committee to control the secret services, believes that the previous protective measures do not go far enough. He told the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday): “State-organized influence operations from Russia, China and other authoritarian states massively threaten our freedom and security.” The blatant and serious risks have been known for a long time. “Politically, we must finally approach them in a completely different way than before and make our democracy much more defensive.” While consequences have been drawn from Russia’s aggression in other areas, the “turning point” in combating and defending against hybrid threats has so far largely failed to materialize, said von Notz. He called for the security authorities to be strengthened in terms of personnel and technology.
It is overdue for these “significant security policy risks” to be dealt with appropriately. “The Federal Ministry of the Interior is primarily responsible here. But the Chancellery is also responsible for ensuring that the reform of intelligence law and the Kritis umbrella law are finally presented and completed in a timely manner,” said the Green politician. “We simply cannot allow ourselves to continue to so criminally neglect significant risks to our country and our democracy.” The Kritis Act is intended to better protect critical infrastructure from dangers.
Demand for more money for IT security
CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter told the taz.de portal: “We have to invest significantly more in our security, both financially and mentally.” He criticized the previous measures of the red-green-yellow federal government. “The threat posed by Russian cyber attacks is extremely serious, including for Germany, which is unfortunately naive on the one hand when it comes to dealing with hybrid warfare and, on the other hand, is particularly poorly equipped in the areas of cyber defense and counter-espionage.”