Last Friday, the United States condemned Russia for “malicious cyber attacks” against European countries such as Germany, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. According to statements by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, the country “strongly condemned the malicious cyber activity of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff (GRU), also known as APT28” towards these nations.
“We join Germany in attributing specific malign activity carried out by APT28 that targeted a German political party. We call on Russia to end this malicious activity and uphold its international commitments and obligations. “With the EU and our NATO allies, we will continue to take action to disrupt Russia’s cyber activities, protect our citizens and foreign partners, and hold malicious actors accountable,” Miller added.
For the United States, APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, was responsible for attacks on a variety of targets ranging from defense and aerospace companies to infrastructure operators and political parties.
As expressed by the Czech Republic on the same Friday, “some Czech institutions have been subject to cyber attacks that exploit a hitherto unknown vulnerability,” and according to the Minister of the Interior, Vit Rakusan, his country’s infrastructure had recently suffered “more than dozens ” of attacks of this type.
In line, Germany blamed “state-sponsored Russian hackers” for an “intolerable” cyber attack suffered by various members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Additionally, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated that a government investigation into who was behind the 2023 cyberattack against the SPD had just concluded, and it was attributed to the APT28 group, run by Russia’s military intelligence service. “In other words, it was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack against Germany, and this is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences,” she said.
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