Pistorius warns of new cyber attacks

Created: 11/07/2022, 13:40

Boris Pistorius (SPD), Interior Minister of Lower Saxony, gives a press statement.

© Moritz Frankenberg/dpa/archive image

The dangers from the Internet are growing - also because of the international conflicts, also in Lower Saxony.

With this assessment, the security authorities want to raise awareness of the problem of IT attacks.

There is news about the case of a domestic Dax group.

Hanover - Russia's war against Ukraine and the tough technological competition with China require greater vigilance to defend against online attacks in Lower Saxony from the point of view of the police and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

In addition, criminal hacks are increasingly causing difficulties for companies - most recently at the Dax group Continental, where huge amounts of data were stolen.

"We have to arm ourselves as best we can against cyber attacks, industrial espionage and disinformation campaigns," said Interior Minister Boris Pistorius on Monday at the sidelines of a specialist conference.

It is becoming increasingly important "to protect our critical infrastructures as well as our industry and economy from these dangers".

The SPD politician was referring to possible reactions from secret services or hackers to the Western sanctions against the Russian government.

According to the Interior Department in Hanover, the number of reports of digital attacks on companies from Lower Saxony is also increasing.

And these could “increase even further in the course of the Ukraine crisis,” it said.

At the beginning of the week, around 200 experts took part in a "business protection conference" organized by the state secret service.

In addition to hacks motivated by criminals, such as blackmail with the help of encryption software or the threat of publishing sensitive data online, political motives can also play a role.

In recent years, Russia is said to have tried to manipulate election campaigns in several countries by spreading fake news or robot accounts on social networks.

Insurers also warn of the consequences of IT attacks on important infrastructures such as energy networks or the healthcare system.

Many security agencies have already increased their investigative teams.

Lower Saxony's Deputy Head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Martina Oelkers, said that espionage activities were "unfortunately experiencing a renaissance at the moment".

Business and politics would have to become more resistant to this.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the close economic ties with China and its ability to influence Lower Saxony companies are further challenges to IT security.

As one of the largest automotive suppliers and tire manufacturers, Conti is currently dealing with the consequences of a hacker attack on its systems.

This had already become known in August - now the group admitted that masses of data were leaking.

Audits by external experts were still ongoing.

"In the meantime, this investigation has shown that the attackers were able to steal part of the data from the affected IT systems, despite established security precautions."

At first it was said that no data had been encrypted and no ransom demands had been received.

Apparently, according to information from the “Handelsblatt”, the hackers later asked for money.

According to information from the newspaper, there should be a data volume of 40 terabytes.

Continental did not comment on this.

dpa