Cyber agency defends role in data breach
News
By
Reuters
| Jan 06, 2019
Germany’s BSI cyber defence agency on Saturday defended its role in responding to a far-reaching data breach, saying it could not have connected individual cases it was aware of last year until the entire data release became public.
The government said on Friday that personal data and documents from hundreds of German politicians and public figures including Chancellor Angela Merkel had been published online, in what appeared to be one of Germany’s biggest data breaches.
The incident has shocked the establishment and prompted calls for security agencies to clarify whether any security deficiencies they were aware of had been exploited, and if they could have acted sooner to head off the breach.
The BSI said in a statement that it was contacted by a lawmaker in early December about suspicious activity on their private email and social media accounts.
“Only by becoming aware of the release of the data sets via the Twitter account ‘G0d’ on Jauary 3, 2019, could the BSI in a further analysis on January 4, 2019 connect this case and four other cases that the BSI became aware of during 2018,” it said.
READ MORE
Why tech experts are against regulation of fast-growing AI
Boost for farmers as state seeks to expand mango processing plant
Bridging the digital divide calls for inclusive development
Treasury to cut borrowing, spending on shortfall in revenue collection
State to shut down 25 entities, privatise others in new reforms
Why Kenya must move fast to invest in digital rights security
State, workers' pay tensions cloud function
Why the super-rich are ditching commercial property investments
S Sudan Central Bank Governor Rallies East Africans to Invest in Juba
Co-op Bank lines up billions for women-owned SMEs after German loan deal
“At the beginning of December 2018, it was not foreseeable that there would be more cases.”
The BSI said on Friday all but one of the seven parties in the lower house had been affected. German media said that party was the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Last year, lawmakers said a powerful cyber-attack had breached the foreign ministry’s computer network.
Security officials have blamed most previous breaches of data security on a Russian hacking group, while the Kremlin has consistently denied involvement in such incidents.
After the latest data breach, Justice Minister Katarina Barley said she was considering stricter security requirements for software makers and Internet platform operators.
“We are examining the extent to which stricter legal provisions are useful and necessary here,” she told weekly newspaper Welt am Sonntag, according to a pre-released article.
Authorities were investigating all possibilities, including espionage, one government source said on Friday, adding that it was unlikely any single person could have compiled the massive amounts of data that had been released.
The BSI said investigations so far had showed the data breaches predominantly concerned private and personal accounts, but that it is responsible for the operational protection of government networks.
- Why tech experts are against regulation of fast-growing AI
- State to shut down 25 entities, privatise others in new reforms
- Forget miraa: Discovery of minerals stirs up Meru locals
- Kenyan retailers ready to pounce as Ethiopia to open up market