Chancellor Merkel
'was patient zero' in German govt network hack
Her computer was used to spread Trojan, it is claimed
The recent cyberattack on the German government began with
the compromise of Chancellor Angela Merkel's personal computer, it is alleged.
German newspaper Bild claims Merkel's
computer was one of the first systems to be infected with malware linked to
miscreants in Russia.
Hackers reportedly used Merkel's
computer to send messages to other targets in order to further spread a Trojan
throughout the German government. The newspaper did not mention how Merkel
herself may have been infected.
The infection eventually spread
throughout the German Bundestag, and was traced back to hackers based in Russia. The German
administration has refused to point the finger of blame publicly.
The attack reportedly compromised
roughly 20,000 systems, and put lawmakers' documents at the fingertips of the
infiltrators. It has yet to be confirmed whether the hackers were physically
located in Russia or using a proxy in the Putin-led nation, and whether the
activity took place with the knowledge of Russian authorities.
Russia wouldn't be the first
foreign government to pwn Merkel's gear. Earlier this year the NSA was found to have tapped the phone of
the German chancellor to gather intelligence
Source: theregister.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment