Germany bolsters defenses against Russia cyber threat

The German government on Tuesday announced plans to shore up cyber defenses in light of possible new threats from Russia.

Several major cyberattacks around the world have been traced to Russian intelligence-linked hackers in recent years.

Amid worsening relations with Moscow, Germany's government fears the war in Ukraine will exacerbate the threat.

What is planned?

The new measures involve promoting cyber resilience among small- and medium-sized enterprises. That would apply to "critical infrastructure," businesses involved in transport, food, health, energy and water supply.

Also included is the introduction of a secure central video conferencing system for the federal government. There will also be a centralized platform for the exchange of information on cyberattacks between state and federal structures, based at the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

Meanwhile, the IT infrastructure of Germany's domestic intelligence agency and police is to be modernized.

Why take action now?

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser presented the paper on cybersecurity, saying the war in Ukraine had highlighted the potential aggression that Germany faces at the cyber level.

"The sea change we are facing in view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine requires a strategic repositioning and significant investment in our cybersecurity."

The paper noted "how essential cybersecurity is for a modern, high-tech and digitized industrialized country like Germany."

The document warns that sabotage and disinformation are capable of "massively and persistently impairing or even disrupting the functioning of our community and our economy."

A Microsoft report in April said destructive cyberattacks by state-backed Russian hackers had been targeted against critical infrastructure as part of the war in Ukraine itself. Many times, the report noted, these were simultaneous to physical attacks. Ahead of the invasion, the US tech giant highlighted the presence of dangerous malware on dozens of Ukrainian government computers,

Germany has in recent years repeatedly accused Russia of state-sanctioned hacking attempts, something the Kremlin denies.

In the most high-profile incident blamed on Moscow to date, hackers paralyzed the computer network of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in 2015.

Pro-Kremlin group Killnet was last month linked to a distributed-denial-of-service (DDOS) attack on Lithuania's secure national data network.  

rc/sms (dpa, AFP)

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.