NAN-F-27
Attack
Berlin, Nov. 8, 2016 (dpa/NAN) German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday warned about
the threat posed by Russian cyber attacks on 2017 German national elections as an attempt by Moscow to influence the outcome of the ballot in Europe’s biggest economy.
Merkel told a press conference in Berlin that “there have already been Russian cyber attacks in Germany; the aim was to spread false information.
“That is why it can play a role in the election campaign.”
The chancellor had clashed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years over Moscow’s backing for rebel forces in eastern Ukraine.
She had also helped to spearhead European Union’s moves to impose sanctions on Russia after the Kremlin annexed the former Ukrainian territory of Crimea in March 2014.
U.S. security agencies have accused Russia of intervening in the U.S. Presidential election by hacking into Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters’ computer.
Berlin security authorities also suspect that Russian hackers under the control of Moscow were behind a series of recent attacks against the administration of the parliamentary lower house.
The Russian hackers were also believed to be behind the Bundestag attack, as well as the headquarters of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Damilola Oyewole/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu