German foreign minister says there will be consequences for Russian cyberattack

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday that Russia would face consequences for a cyberattack which was allegedly carried out by a group linked to Russian military intelligence services. Several German websites were taken offline by Russian hackers in early 2023 following Germany’s decision to provide tanks to Ukraine, the country said. “We can now clearly attribute last year’s attack to the Russian group APT28, which is controlled by the Russian military intelligence service GRU,” Baerbock said at a press conference in Australia, Reuters reported. This meant Russian state hackers had attacked Germany in cyberspace, which is “completely unacceptable and will not remain without consequences,” Baerbock added. This is not the only time Germany has faced an alleged cyberattack from Russia. Google’s cyber unit Mandiant said earlier this year that it had detected a phishing campaign by Russian hackers aimed at German political parties.