Thursday, January 8, 2015

Kiev blames Russia for German cyber attack

Ukraine's prime minister blamed Russian intelligence on Thursday for a hacker attack against German government websites, for which a pro-Russian group claimed responsibility.

The attack on Wednesday took place before Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk was due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Russian group demanded Berlin end support for the Ukrainian government.


"I strongly recommend that the Russian secret services stop spending taxpayer money for cyber attacks against the ­Bundestag and Chancellor Merkel's office," Prime ­Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told ZDF TV when asked if pro-Russian hackers from Ukraine were responsible.

The attack included Web pages for Merkel and for the German parliament.

Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibbert, said counter-­measures were taken but failed to halt the attack, which left the sites inaccessible from 10 am (09:00 GMT) Wednesday until the evening.

In a statement on its ­website, a group calling itself ­Cyber­Berkut claimed responsibility.

"Berkut" refers to the riot squads used by the government of Ukraine's former pro-Russian president, Viktor ­Yanukovich, who was ousted after violent protests in February.

It was believed to be the first successful prolonged attack on German government websites, which intelligence agencies say face about 3,000 such assaults daily.

About five of the daily attacks come from foreign intelligence agencies, the head of the BfV domestic intelligence agency said recently.

Meantime, Latvia, which has taken over the rotating EU presidency, on Wednesday said Russia seemed more open to a negotiated solution over the conflict in Ukraine, raising the prospect of an easing of ­sanctions against Moscow.

"There is a kind of an opening we can use," said Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, adding that Russia's economy was suffering from the fallout of Western sanctions combined with falling oil prices.

Rinkevics, who will travel to Kiev and Moscow in the ­coming days, said he saw ­"signals there is a certain kind of willingness on the Russian side to work more closely" with the ­European Union.

  Source: Agencies - globaltimes.cn
8/1/15
--
-
Related:

No comments :

Post a Comment

Only News

Featured Post

“The U.S. must stop supporting terrorists who are destroying Syria and her people" : US Congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard

US Congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard, recently visited Syria, and even met with President Bashar Al-Assad. She also visited the recently libe...

Blog Widget by LinkWithin