Russian hackers target German govt websites in series of cyberattacks: Report

Russian hackers have been blamed for carrying out a series of cyberattacks on the official websites of the German government. The portals of the German Ministry of Defence, the Bundestag, the federal police and a number of federal police services were allegedly hacked by Russian hackers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's website was also reportedly down for a brief time. As per the reports of Der Spiegel, a pro-Russian activist group known as "Killnet" claimed responsibility for the attacks on Telegram. However, the Federal Information Security Administration suggests that such attacks are not technologically advanced and may be easily thwarted using ordinary solutions.

This comes after Germany announced military assistance to Ukraine. Security officials believe the attacks are payback for German armament supply to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. Last week, Germany approved the transfer of 50 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks and announced the delivery of seven self-propelled, rapid-fire artillery systems on Friday. Germany is also taking steps to limit its reliance on Russian gas supplies.

However, on Wednesday, the German administration affirmed that Germany has not been the subject of cyberattacks that can be traced back to Russian sources since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Sven Herpig, head of international cybersecurity policy at think tank Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, has stated that just because no other information is available does not rule out the possibility of events, according to Euractiv.

More about Killnet

In recent days, the pro-Russian group Killnet has attacked a number of targets. It goes after victims it feels are hostile to Russia in the Ukraine conflict. This especially refers to NATO and its allies. Killnet claims that it does not seek to hurt people in other nations and does not provide hacking services to others. It says that its purpose is to do maximum damage to adversary countries' network information structure. Countries like Romania and the Czech Republic are also attacked by Killnet.

Russian hackers coordinated missile strikes on Odesa

In the meanwhile, Ukraine's Special Communications and Information Protection Service suggests that Russian hackers coordinated missile strikes on Odesa, which were launched by Russian strategic bombers on May 7. Russia sent in strategic warplanes to launch cruise missiles. Threats of a cyber attack on the Odesa City Council's website were made public, according to media reports.

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