German Chancellor Angela Merkel revealed that she is the target of an “outrageous” cyber espionage campaign carried out by Russia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel revealed that Russia-linked threat actors were targeting her in an “outrageous” cyberespionage campaign.

“I can honestly say that it pains me. Every day I try to build a better relationship with Russia and on the other hand there is such hard evidence that Russian forces are doing this,” she told parliament.

The news is not surprising, in several occasions, the German intelligence blamed Russia-APT groups of spying on lawmakers or leading politicians.

Germany’s intelligence service has repeatedly called out attempts by Russian hackers to spy on lawmakers or leading politicians.

According to the German news agency the Bild, the Merkel’s computer was one of the first systems to be infected with the malware used by the hackers to target other members of the Parliament in 2015 the Bundestag hack.

The attackers used Merkel’s PC to target other German politicians by sending malicious messages.

Merkel confirmed that investigation conducted on the 2015 incident allowed to identify the suspect.

“Unfortunately the conclusion I have reached is that this is not new,” she said, noting that “cyber-disorientation, the distortion of facts” were all part of “Russia’s strategy”.

“Obviously this doesn’t make it easier” to foster a better relationship with Moscow, she said, calling such spying tactics “more than uncomfortable”.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – Merkel, hacking)

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