Czech Republic and Germany accuse Kremlin hackers of cyberattacks on state institutions
Not only politicians but also military-industrial and aircraft companies were targeted
The Czech government followed Germany on Friday in accusing hackers from the Fancy Bear group, which Europeans believe is coordinated by Russia's GRU military intelligence service, of cyberattacks on Czech institutions and infrastructure.
On Friday, the Czech Foreign Ministry made a statement that, judging by the technique of the cyberattacks, hackers from the APT28 group, known as Fancy Bear for several years, were involved.
"Since 2023, some Czech institutions have been subjected to cyberattacks using a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook," the statement said.
On Friday, the German government accused Fancy Bear of similar attempts on the server and mail of the ruling Social Democratic Party. The statement was made by Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock while on a visit to Australia.
"Publicly pointing to a specific culprit is an important tool for protecting national interests," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told AFP.
Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said at a press conference with his German counterpart Nancy Feser on Friday that Czech infrastructure systems have recently been subjected to dozens of cyberattacks.
"These attacks were organised by the Russian Federation and its military intelligence, the GRU," Rakusan said.
Nancy Feather confirmed the GRU's involvement and said that similar attacks by these hackers began in Germany in 2022. The targets were not only politicians, but also military-industrial and aircraft companies.
The EU leadership also commented on the Kremlin's organisation of hacker attacks.
"This malicious cyber campaign shows that Russia continues to behave irresponsibly in cyberspace, attacking democratic institutions, government agencies and critical infrastructure companies in the European Union and beyond," said EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell, adding that the EU would respond to such actions by all available means.
Background. As a reminder, Russian hackers recently attacked German politicians. Cyber experts have warned that Moscow is working to undermine European support for Ukraine.
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