UPDATE - Germany blames Russia for cyberattack, warns of consequences

UPDATES WITH SUMMONING OF RUSSIAN ENVOY, ADDS COMMENTS BY GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON, CHANGES DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Anadulu staff

BERLIN (AA) - Germany blamed Russia on Friday for a cyberattack targeting German lawmakers and warned that such hybrid attacks will have consequences for Moscow.

“Russian state hackers have attacked Germany in cyberspace. This is completely unacceptable and will not be without consequences,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

She told reporters, during her visit to Australia, that a government investigation into last year’s cyberattack that targeted co-ruling Social Democrats, had been completed.

“The federal government, under the leadership of the Foreign Office, has now completed the investigation process for this incident. We can now clearly attribute this attack to the APT28 group, which is controlled by the Russian military intelligence service GRU,” Baerbock said.

She warned that Russia will face consequences for such cyberattacks, but did not provide any details about possible diplomatic measures or sanctions.

- Ministry summons Russian envoy

The German Foreign Ministry said it summoned Russian charge d'affaires on Friday to protest the cyberattack and make it clear to the Russians that Berlin will not tolerate such malicious acts in cyberspace.

“We, and our partners, will not tolerate such cyberattacks, and we will use all available measures to prevent, deter and respond to Russian aggressive behavior in cyberspace,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner told a news conference in Berlin.

He said the EU has a mechanism to jointly respond to such cyberattacks, and they will be studying possible measures and sanctions in the coming days.

Wolfgang Buchner, a German deputy government spokesperson, also said they are condemning these cyberattacks “in the strongest possible terms” and asking Moscow to stop initiating such malicious cyber campaigns.

“This reckless behavior in cyberspace contradicts international norms and deserves special attention, especially in a year in which elections are taking place in many countries,” Buchner told reporters in Berlin.

“Cyberattacks against political parties, state institutions and critical infrastructure companies are a threat to our democracy, our national security and our free society,” he stressed.

“The Federal Government strongly condemns the repeated and unacceptable cyberattacks by Russian state-controlled actors, and once again urges Russia to cease such actions,” he added.