In normal times the digital space is full of dangers. Wars also take place in the digital space. The German forensic institute, BKA, provides an alarming picture of cybercrime.
Even the Federal Bureau of Forensics, BKA, has been the target of cyber attacks. In early May, hackers released a series of queries to the servers of some of the German authorities and ministries. The DDos (Distributed Denial of Service) attack was intended to overwhelm German institutions so that they were no longer accessible. The attack was claimed by Telegram, a group of Russian hackers who call themselves “Killnet”.
They did not have much success with BKA. What they achieved was only to extend the opening time of the website, BKA Vice President Martina Link told Deutsche Wellen. As part of the BKA’s coverage of the “Cybercrime Situation”, Link said the attack was more of a “low-level” attack.
But this not-so-harmful DDos attack was the latest signal of the existence of a new and dangerous development: Link points to the solidarity of cyber groups and hacker groups with Russia or Ukraine. Thus they make corresponding attacks, as “Killnet” did. During these attacks “there is a risk that they will affect the impartial parties, even if they do not want to do so”, explains the vice president of BKA.
Martina Link
What is certain is that: The war in Ukraine also takes place in the digital space – and from there it reaches digital Germany. That is why Arne Schönbohm, president of the German Federal Office for Information Technology Security (BSI), told Deutsche Wellen: “Given the Russian attacks on Ukraine, the BSI continues to see an increasing risk for Germany.” Schönbohm calls on enterprises, organizations and institutions to control security measures in information technology, and to adapt to the concrete state of risk. “Since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, there have been an increase in specific incidents in information technology security in Germany, but they have been partially influential,” says the BSI chief.
The first cyber disaster
But many cyber attacks have greater consequences, which are felt by every citizen. An example given by Martina Link relates to the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld. In early July, hackers attacked the local administration with so-called Ransomware. This malicious software encrypts certain data and programs. The server and hardware had to be turned off. Thus social assistance could no longer be granted, as could vehicle registration permits. Local authorities said attempts had been made to put digital pressure through a cyber disaster. This had never happened in Germany.
Another attack last November affected a software firm whose programs are used by a quarter of doctors’ offices in Germany. The server and network structure were encrypted and were no longer able to work.
Arne Schönbohm
Cybercrime is booming: The BKA sees a 12 percent increase in attacks, recording 150,000 cases. Experts think the actual number of cases is much higher than the number of registered cases: When the digital association, Bitkom, asked last year more than 1,000 firms from all sectors, nine out of ten firms admitted to being victims of attacks cybernetic. The damage from theft, espionage and sabotage to the German economy is estimated at a total of 223 billion euros. A figure, which Ms. Link of BKA, repeated when she spoke about the “State of cybercrime.” Not forgetting to mention, that the amount of damages will double within two years.
Corona also incited cybercrime
According to the report, Martina Link gives several reasons for the “significant increase in the number of cases”: With the surge of digitalization, driven by the Corona pandemic, many new opportunities have been created, which are also being used. The economy of digital illegality has further developed: The situation report speaks of professional criminals and those who share jobs, as well as the service economy capable of committing crimes, services provided in illegal bargains and entering They offer everything that can be bought for Bitcoin, from credit card data networks to malicious software, and because criminals distribute work and work in different places, the police find it difficult to The detection rate is 30 percent,being below the average of forensic police statistics (SCP).
Given the international crossroads of wrongdoers, Martina Link seeks cross-border cooperation. “This has been a positive development in recent years,” she told Deutsche Welle, referring to last year’s Emotet example.
Boundary melting
The concern of the criminalist is that she sees an ever-increasing blurring of boundaries between criminal hackers and state-run hackers. Which would bring us back to the aftermath of the war in Ukraine. At the end of February, in Germany, 3,000 wind power plants could not be connected to make progress. It is done with the internet and the plants connect to the network through a satellite operator. This one was attacked by hackers, exactly on the morning of February 24, the day the war started. Probably because the same operator is used by the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainian army.
In the latest annual report for the summer of 2021, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Germany writes: “Russian intelligence services make extensive use of cyberattacks for Russia’s geopolitical interests.” Among them are “Fancy Bear”, which has been active since at least 2004. But also “Snake”, an “attacker with very clandestine behavior, with great technical experience and international objectives.”
Haya Shulman is Professor of Informatics at Goethe University Frankfurt and Head of Department at the Fraunhofer Institute. She, as a cybernetics expert, is certain that no cyber-attacks related to the Ukraine war have been registered in Germany, which does not mean that they do not exist. “” Successful cyber attacks are not detected, “Shulman told Deutsche Wellen. office of the chancellor, ministries and security authorities.Most of it is now disconnected from the internet, and is considered safe.