4 ms·

Germany says its government computers secure after “isolated” hack

73 points by oger 9y ago

ryanlol 9y ago
>Both the German parliamentary committee that oversees the intelligence agencies, and the digital committee scheduled extraordinary meetings to discuss the attack on Thursday, according to parliamentary sources This is basically all the information contained in the article, there are no details regarding the hack or it's target. Reuters says that German press is blaming APT28, i.e "Fancy Bear". edit: Here's a German article with more details, citing "sources" http://www.dpa-international.com/topic/sources-foreign-hackers-infiltrate-german-government-data-180228-99-282593 http://www.dpa-international.com/topic/sources-foreign-hacke... >The hack appears to have originated from the APT28 cyberespionage group >The group used malicious software to target German federal agencies, including the foreign and defence ministries >Hackers were able to steal data >The infiltration likely lasted more than a year.
- joethebro 9y ago
  >The infiltration likely lasted more than a year. Wow, that's pretty significant... How was it only now they caught on?
  - blattimwind 9y ago
    Infosec on federal and state level is generally regarded as very poor. Hardly unique to Germany, though.
    - lostmsu 9y ago
      I would not say it is uncommon though. AFAIK intrusions into major companies like Google also happen to stay unnoticed for months.
  - johannes1234321 9y ago
    There are reports telling that the attackers were observed for some time and potentially got honeypots with insnsitige data served. However there are no formal reports published, so mostly rumors and speculation. The parliament's security council should receive a (non-public) report soon, only after full analysis there might be some public information released ...
1337biz 9y ago
Is there _any_ evidence on the attribution. Or are Germans also falling for the 'trust us we know best' secret service agency mantra?
- bdamm 9y ago
  What would you find convincing? Any stream of bits released could be falsified. The library of used vulnerabilities or malware techniques is not something I would expect any national level security agency to release.
- ryanlol 9y ago
  There is no official attribution and you're already demanding evidence? It feels a little early.
llao 9y ago
(2013)
- scottmf 9y ago
  2018
- johannes1234321 9y ago
  2013 was about the parliament, this is about the government administration.
bigphishy 9y ago
I would not expect this type of linkbait article from a mainstream UK news site be on the top of hackernews.

73 points by oger 9y ago

>Both the German parliamentary committee that oversees the intelligence agencies, and the digital committee scheduled extraordinary meetings to discuss the attack on Thursday, according to parliamentary sources This is basically all the information contained in the article, there are no details regarding the hack or it's target. Reuters says that German press is blaming APT28, i.e "Fancy Bear". edit: Here's a German article with more details, citing "sources" http://www.dpa-international.com/topic/sources-foreign-hackers-infiltrate-german-government-data-180228-99-282593 http://www.dpa-international.com/topic/sources-foreign-hacke... >The hack appears to have originated from the APT28 cyberespionage group >The group used malicious software to target German federal agencies, including the foreign and defence ministries >Hackers were able to steal data >The infiltration likely lasted more than a year.

joethebro 9y ago
>The infiltration likely lasted more than a year. Wow, that's pretty significant... How was it only now they caught on?
- blattimwind 9y ago
  Infosec on federal and state level is generally regarded as very poor. Hardly unique to Germany, though.
  - lostmsu 9y ago
    I would not say it is uncommon though. AFAIK intrusions into major companies like Google also happen to stay unnoticed for months.
- johannes1234321 9y ago
  There are reports telling that the attackers were observed for some time and potentially got honeypots with insnsitige data served. However there are no formal reports published, so mostly rumors and speculation. The parliament's security council should receive a (non-public) report soon, only after full analysis there might be some public information released ...

1337biz 9y ago

Is there _any_ evidence on the attribution. Or are Germans also falling for the 'trust us we know best' secret service agency mantra?

bdamm 9y ago
What would you find convincing? Any stream of bits released could be falsified. The library of used vulnerabilities or malware techniques is not something I would expect any national level security agency to release.
ryanlol 9y ago
There is no official attribution and you're already demanding evidence? It feels a little early.

llao 9y ago

(2013)

scottmf 9y ago
2018
johannes1234321 9y ago
2013 was about the parliament, this is about the government administration.

bigphishy 9y ago

I would not expect this type of linkbait article from a mainstream UK news site be on the top of hackernews.