"German Cyber Agency Warns Threat Situation Is 'Higher Than Ever'"

Germany's federal cybersecurity office has warned that ransomware, political hacking, and other cybersecurity threats are "higher than ever." In its annual report, the office stated that ongoing criminal activities, as well as attacks linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, were to blame for the threat level, but it also warned that inadequate IT and software product quality was a factor. While no comprehensive attack campaign against German targets was detected, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) reported an accumulation of minor incidents and hacktivism campaigns in Germany in response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. These included a cyberattack on the satellite company Viasat an hour before Russia's invasion on February 24. The US, UK, and Europan Union linked Russia to the attack but did not name a specific agency, whereas EU and NATO member Estonia attributed the attack to the GRU, the Russian military's main intelligence directorate. The Viasat attack was intended to hinder communication between the Ukrainian government and military, but it also bricked routers for remote maintenance systems used by German wind turbines, knocking 5,800 of them offline. Viasat stated that tens of thousands of its terminals had been irreparably damaged. This article continues to discuss the rise in cybersecurity threats in Germany. 

The Record reports "German Cyber Agency Warns Threat Situation Is 'Higher Than Ever'"