Germany intelligence agency warns of Russian APT28 cyber spying

By Maria Martinez

 

BERLIN,  (Reuters) - Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned on Tuesday of cyberattacks by the Russian state-linked hacker group APT28, saying it had compromised vulnerable TP-Link internet routers to spy on military, government and critical infrastructure targets.

 

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said the warning was issued with partners including Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, BND, and the U.S. FBI. 

 

APT28, also known as "Fancy Bear", is attributed by Western governments to Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU. 

 

The group attacked several thousand routers globally, the BfV said, including around 30 vulnerable devices in Germany.

 

In some cases, compromise was confirmed, prompting operators to replace affected routers.

 

APT28 previously carried out cyberattacks on Germany’s parliament, the centre-left SPD political party and air traffic control authorities, the BfV said.

 

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Maria Martinez; Editing by Jamie Freed)