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German intelligence warns against Russian hacking group

Germany's domestic intelligence agency warned Monday against a cyber group linked to Russian military intelligence that it says has launched attacks in Ukraine and NATO member states.

Published: 9 September 2024 15:03 CEST

File photo shows a person typing on a keyboard.

File photo shows a person typing on a keyboard. Image by councilcle from Pixabay

“The cyberattacks are used for espionage and sabotage,” the BfV agency said in a statement on X, in a warning issued alongside the FBI and other US security agencies.

“Since the beginning of 2022, the actor’s primary intention appears to be to spy on and disrupt aid to Ukraine,” it added.

The cyber group is called UNC2589, also known as Cadet Blizzard or Ember Bear, and is linked to unit 29155 of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, the BfV said.

It was responsible notably for “WhisperGate”, a cyber campaign that targeted the Ukrainian government in January 2022, a month before Moscow’s invasion of the Ukraine.

The United States last week charged five Russian military officers over “WhisperGate”.

“The actor is also believed to have attacked networks in NATO member states in Europe and North America,” the BfV said.

“Known targets include critical infrastructure as well as government agencies and companies in the financial, transport, energy and healthcare sectors.”

Germany, Kyiv’s second-biggest military backer after the United States, and other members of the NATO military alliance have been on high alert for cyberattacks linked to Russia.

In May, Berlin accused a group known as ATP28, which is linked to Russian military intelligence, of targeting members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party.

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Germany arrests Syrian man accused of plotting to kill soldiers

The suspect, an “alleged follower of a radical Islamic ideology”, was arrested on Thursday on charges of planning “a serious act of violence endangering the state”.

The man had acquired two heavy knives “around 40 centimetres (more than one foot) in length” in recent days, prosecutors in Munich said.

He planned to “attack Bundeswehr soldiers” in the city of Hof in northern Bavaria during their lunch break, aiming “to kill as many of them as possible”, prosecutors said.

“The accused wanted to attract attention and create a feeling of insecurity among the population,” they said.

German security services have been on high alert over the threat of Islamist attacks, in particular since the Gaza war erupted on October 7th with the Hamas attacks on Israel.

Police shot dead a man in Munich this month after he opened fire on officers in what was being treated as a suspected “terrorist attack” on the Israeli consulate in Munich.

The shootout fell on the anniversary of the kidnap and killing of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games by Palestinian militants.

The 18-year-old suspect had previously been investigated by authorities in his home country Austria on suspicion of links to terrorism but the case had been dropped.

The incident capped a string of attacks in Germany, which have stirred a sense of insecurity in Germany and fed a bitter debate of immigration.

Three people were killed last month in a suspected Islamist stabbing at a festival in the western city of Solingen.

READ ALSO: ‘Ban asylum seekers’ – How Germany is reacting to Solingen attack

The suspect in the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, was a Syrian man who had been slated for deportation from Germany.

A federal interior ministry spokesman said if an Islamist motive was confirmed in the latest foiled attack, it would be “further evidence of the high threat posed by Islamist terrorism in Germany, which was recently demonstrated by the serious crimes in Mannheim and the attack in Solingen, but also by acts that were fortunately prevented by the timely intervention of the security authorities”.

The Solingen stabbing followed a knife attack in the city of Mannheim in May, which left a policeman dead, and which had also been linked to Islamism by officials.

Germany has responded to the attacks by taking steps to tighten immigration controls and knife laws.

READ ALSO: Debt, migration and the far-right – the big challenges facing Germany this autumn

The government has announced new checks along all of its borders and promised to speed up deportations of migrants who have no right to stay in Germany.

The number of people considered Islamist extremists in Germany fell slightly from 27,480 in 2022 to 27,200 last year, according to a report from the federal domestic intelligence agency.

But Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned in August that “the threat posed by Islamist terrorism remains high”.

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