Germany Government confirmed that hackers had breached its computer network and implanted a malware that was undetected for one year.

German news agency DPA reported that Russian hackers belonging to the APT28 group (aka Fancy Bear, Pawn Storm, Sednit, Sofacy, and Strontium) have breached Germany’s foreign and interior ministries’ online networks.

The agency, quoting unnamed security sources, revealed that the APT28 hackers planted malware in the ministries’ networks. The malicious code was undetected as long as a year.

“A Russian-backed hacker group known for many high-level cyber attacks was able to infiltrate the German government’s secure computer networks, the dpa news agency reported Wednesday.” reported the ABCnews.

The German Government discovered the intrusion in December but the experts believe that the hackers were inside the networks as long as a year. The DPA also added that hackers were able to penetrate an isolated government IT network.

“within the federal administration the attack was isolated and brought under control.” said the Interior Ministry that also confirmed an ongoing investigation.

“This case is being worked on with the highest priority and considerable resources,” the ministry added.

The hackers exfiltrated 17 gigabytes of data that could be used in further attacks against the German Government.

This isn’t the first time that Russia-linked APT28 was blamed for a cyber attack against Germany, in 2015 the APT group hacked into the systems of the German Parliament.

What will happen in the future?

Top German intelligence officials are requesting to the government to hack back attackers in case of a cyber attack from a foreign government

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – cyber espionage, APT28)

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